A Nasty Little War

In the closing months of the First World War, Britain, America, France and Japan sent 180,000 soldiers to revolutionary Russia, in a doomed attempt to unseat the Bolsheviks. Entangled in what they termed a 'comic opera' conflict, they crisscrossed the shattered empire in sleds, trains and paddlesteamers, bivouacked in log cabins and felt yurts, torpedoed warships from speedboats, improvised the world's first air-dropped chemical weapons, and organised several coups and at least one assassination. Cheered on by Churchill, they also turned a blind eye to their Russian allies' many atrocities. Two years later, as the Red Army swept the board, the West evacuated, leaving Russia more blood-stained and suspicious than ever. A Nasty Little War brings this forgotten misadventure vividly to life.

Reid brilliantly depicts the disastrous failure of our intervention in the "Russian" civil war. The atmosphere, the characters, the absurdity are all there -- Antony Beevor In witty, elegant prose, Anna Reid uncovers the true story of the West's failed and forgotten attempt to reverse the Bolshevik revolution. Excellent background to today's events -- Anne Applebaum Britain's most forgotten war, brilliantly remembered -- Simon Jenkins Reid brings this little-known period thrillingly back to life . . . A vivid and sparkling account, full of colour and dark drama -- The Observer Chillingly original -- Max Hastings, 'Pick of the Week', The Times Elegantly written, and drawing on extensive archival research . . . This remarkable book is simultaneously comic and horrifying -- BBC History Magazine, Books of the Year Unusually entertaining -- London Review of Books Thoroughly researched, stylish and entertaining -- Financial Times

Anna Reid is a historian and journalist. Her previous books are Borderland: a Journey through the History of Ukraine, now in its fourth edition, The Shaman's Coat: a Native History of Siberia, and Leningrad: Tragedy of a City under Siege, 1941-44, which was shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize and has been translated into eighteen languages. She is a former Kyiv correspondent for The Economist, and a trustee of the Ukrainian Institute London.

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