Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
A gripping, unexpectedly humorous, and deeply human portrait of life in Ukraine reshaped by war. In this powerful collection of essays, writer Andriy Lyubka—thrust into the role of an unlikely volunteer—offers a firsthand account of delivering aid to the front lines.
With raw honesty and surprising wit, Lyubka captures both the absurdity and the heartbreak of war. He reflects on time lost, the emotional toll of conflict, and the everyday defiance that keeps hope alive. From the logistical nightmares of aid distribution to the rich aroma of coffee that briefly restores a soldier’s sense of normalcy, War from the Rear reveals a side of war rarely seen—the human side.
More than just a chronicle of conflict, this book is a tribute to the individuals who endure it, the bonds they build, and the acts of kindness that shine through even the darkest times. It’s an essential, unforgettable perspective on Ukraine’s ongoing fight that will stay with readers long after the final page.
"The translation of War from the Rear by Lyubka’s wife, Yulia, and the Kyiv Independent’s Kate Tsurkan proves why translation is critical cultural work. Academic Studies Press’s publication of War from the Rear, too, shows that publishers – like volunteers such as Lyubka himself – make their own essential contributions to Ukraine’s survival as well."
—Nicole Yurcaba, New Eastern Europe
“Ukraine's remarkable resistance to Russia's invasion is a true people's war. This is a country that does not look to politicians to tell them what to do. The country survives because people take agency and work with each other to get weapons to the front, supply hospitals, organise partisan movements and help refugees. Lyubka tells the stories of soccer players and coffee roasters, priests and Roma who are all playing their role in this great community of resistance. In the thing once known as 'the West' we often lament the loss of community—in Ukraine it is thriving and winning against the invasion of a cruel Empire. Lyubka brings it alive in prose that is unsentimental yet totally inspiring.”
—Peter Pomerantsev, the author of This is Not Propaganda
“An author and a war. Real-life autobiographical nonfiction road movie by and about a writer who supplied the army with 400 jeeps. Amazing story about amazing people.
How to deliver 400 jeeps to the front lines for the Ukrainian army and stay alive? In this book you will find answers to questions that you do not yet know exist.
This book is an eye-opener about the amazing interaction between the front and the rear in Ukraine from the cult writer Andriy Lyubka, who became one of the initiators of 'army crowdfunding.'”
—Andrey Kurkov, author of Death and the Penguin
“Delicate, tender, sharply observed vignettes of the Russo-Ukrainian war told from the inside – unexpected and profoundly humane”
—Charlotte Higgins, editor-in-chief of The Guardian
Roasted Uganda
Cars
Sausage
Roma
Sleeping in the Vienna Airport toilet
Techyk
Hose
Khrestyshche
Baptists
Air raid in Bakhmut
On the road
The story I will never write
Hazelnut
Humor that heals us
The smirk of the beastn
A moment of truth
The stranger
Evacuation
Kill lists
Over Achilles’s grave
Orientalism
Bizarre deviations
Investments
Flowers of victory
Odesa
A wartime queen
The main thing is to survive until September
The cultural front
Degradation
War is not only about heroes
Draft
A country of young widows
Astamur Humba (“Abkhaz”)
Youth
Batia
An icon painter
Postscriptum
Acknowledgements