The Mad and the Brave

The Untold Story of Ukraine’s Foreign Legion

Colin Freeman

$34.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

HARPER360
29 July 2025

True war & combat stories; Reportage & collected journalism; History; Geopolitics; Irregular or guerrilla forces & warfare; War & defence operations

'Elegant and terrifying, the story of those who gave up life in the West for Ukraine's frontlines – some to save democracy, some to save themselves. A modern-day Homage to Catalonia – and Fight Club on steroids.' – Oliver Poole, London Standard

With real-life echoes of SAS Rogue Heroes – this is an astonishing account of Europe’s biggest major conflict, told through the eyes of a ragbag collection of foreign fighters

Three days after Russian tanks roll into Ukraine, President Volodymr Zelensky issues a desperate appeal for foreign military volunteers to help defend his country. Thousands answer the call from all over the world: some of them experienced soldiers, others novices who’ve never held a gun before.

Among their ranks are high-minded idealists, adventure-seekers bored with civilian life, and ex-criminals seeking redemption – all risking their lives against the world's most vicious superpower. Some flee at the first sign of trouble, others become heroes; many are killed, and a few turn their guns on each other.

This is their story – often terrifying, often tragic, sometimes comic, and sometimes glorious…

By: Colin Freeman
Imprint: HARPER360
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 460g
ISBN: 9780008722470
ISBN 10: 0008722471
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 29 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Colin Freeman is a former chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Telegraph, now a freelance foreign affairs journalist. He writes features, comment and book reviews for The Daily Telegraph, as well as for The Spectator, The Economist, and The National in Abu Dhabi. He contributes regularly to From Our Own Correspondent on BBC Radio Four and does media punditry on foreign affairs. He is also the author of three previous books: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: The mission to rescue the hostages the world forgot (Icon Books, 2021). Kidnapped: Life as a Somali pirate hostage (Monday Books, 2011) was about the author's own experience of being abducted in Somalia in 2008. And The Curse of the Al-Dulaimi Hotel and other half-truths from Baghdad (Monday Books, 2008) is a book of reportage about post-Saddam Iraq.

Reviews for The Mad and the Brave: The Untold Story of Ukraine’s Foreign Legion

A fascinating, multi-layered portrait of the foreign fighters battling the might of Russia. Colin Freeman is one of the most intrepid and perceptive war correspondents of our time.” – Toby Harnden, Orwell Prize Winning Author of Dead Men Risen ‘A fascinating and gritty account of life on the frontline in Ukraine’ – Sean Rayment, ex-Para and author of Bomb Hunter