The New Total War From Child Abduction to Cyber Attacks and Drones to Disinformation – Russia’s Conflict with Ukraine and the West by Bob Seely COMING 22 July

Hardback
Biteback
22 July 2025

Russian warfare has become the global discussion point in recent years, sparked by the devastating scale of the fighting in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s threats of conflict, including nuclear conflict, with the West. The New Total War is the essential guide to how Russia fights against not only Ukraine but the West as well. It is for anyone who wants to understand how conflict in our world is evolving.

This book is the result of over a decade of research and dozens of interviews. It has been written by a former British soldier and journalist who has travelled extensively throughout Ukraine to get to the truth of Putin’s modus operandi. It tells the story of how, under President Putin, Russia has combined two forms of twentieth-century fighting into a single, new way of total war. It shows why the Kremlin has been in conflict with Kyiv since 2005 and explains why it has been so determined to suppress Ukrainian independence in the face of the bravery and defiance of the Ukrainian people.

Due to its extensive tradition of creative thinking about war, Russia’s new way of fighting is also a guide to how authoritarian states the world over will challenge the West for global supremacy using both military and non-military methods. This book is, therefore, a warning of the style of conflict that will be waged against the West to undermine our beliefs, our power and our influence.