Thank you to Head of Zeus Audiobooks, the author and NetGalley for an audio ARC in return for an honest review

This was an audio ARC but the audio edition wasn't available to select on Goodreads.
I appreciate the Author narrating his own Audiobook. It adds a sense of authenticity as you are hearing the words exactly how they were intended.

Jonathan Haslam is well qualified to write this book, being one of the foremost historians of international relations. He focuses on how the hubris of certain political leaders directly and indirectly lead to major 20th-century wars and in particular how arrogance, ideology, and miscalculation lead to the ongoing Russia Ukraine conflict. Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, whilst unjustifiable, was partly shaped by the actions of the US and NATO expansion.

Like many people, since 24 February 2022, I have followed the extensive news coverage of the Russian-Ukraine War. Having skin in the game (I have a relative who has family in Ukraine) I wanted to go behind the headlines and delve deeper into why the conflict started in the first place. Being born in 1972, I have lived through many of the conflicts mentioned in this book, but I now feel as though I have a greater understanding of the politics involved. Though the book centres on major wars in the 20th century, it extends into the late Cold War period and post–Cold War conflicts, covering relevant conflicts from the 1980s and 1990s.

This is a fascinating and informative read. If you have more than a passing interest in foreign politics and wish to delve beneath the surface, this is the book to read. Haslam delivers an analysis of the catastrophic consequences of overconfidence in military and political decision-making.

Having read some reviews of this book I can see that there are some concerns as to how much blame Haslam lays at Putin's door. If you’re looking for a more direct polemic moral indictment of Putin, Haslam may feel too restrained and this is definitely not the book for you. But if you're after historical insight into how and why leaders make catastrophic decisions, then his approach offers real depth. To be honest, in this day and age, I don't blame anyone for taking a cautious approach in criticizing Putin - for obvious reasons.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus Audiobooks for the Audio ARC!

Hubris is a terrific look at long-ago, but still influential events that led to the eventual invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin and Russia. This book details a lot of the failings of the world governments in the 90s and early 2000s that led to Putin seizing power. I learned a lot about the ways that UN and NATO policies led to the invasion of Ukraine. Very timely read, and very relevant to current world events.

I found this a fascinating and informative book about events that I have only a very general understanding of. The book covers the period from the fall of the Soviet Union to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, and delves into the international relationships, attitudes, and actions that affected Russia's approach to the West. Much of this looks at how US foreign policy towards what it now saw as unimportant versus it's position in Europe and the Middle East, the push east of post Warsaw pact nations to become members of both the EU and Nato, and ultimately the nature of Putin and his regime. There is a lot here and I felt the author managed it well and had an accessible style that made it easy enough to follow. I was left with a much better understanding not just of how we got here with the war in Ukraine but also of recent European political history. Comprehensive and very readable, I did enjoy this.