Forged in War: A Military History of Russia, From its Beginnings to Today

by Mark Galeotti

A masterful history of how war and insecurity, both real and perceived, have driven Russia's destiny for centuries, including the disastrous invasion of Ukraine.

Putin retains his stranglehold on his position in Russia despite an almost ruinous invasion of Ukraine. The answer as to how and why can be found in Russian history. With no naturally defensible borders, and environmental factors constraining its economy, Russia has been pitched against the pre-eminent military powers of the age across the centuries, and often at a technological disadvantage. To respond to these challenges, it has had to sit heavily on the backs of its people, and so war – and the need to be able to fight it – has shaped its evolution, from tsars to commissars and presidents.

The national identity has been forged in the furnace of war. From the medieval kingdom of Rus battling against a Scandinavian princes and Mongol emperors, to its own empire-building conflicts in 19th-century Asia, to the formative wars of the 20th century which saw Russia pitch from Tsarist empire to communist state and defender against Nazism, all these conflicts stained the lands of Russia red with blood. A weak post-Cold War Russia then turned to Putin, who created a new mood for martial triumphalism which led directly to the Ukrainian war.

Packed with contemporary accounts, Forged in War strips away the myth to give an insider's view on Russia's past and present.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Audiobook, Military History, Russian History

368 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever asked yourself, "Geez, what is Russia's deal?" Well, Mark Galeotti is here to explain! His newest book, Forged in War, is a (relatively) short look at the life of what we call Russia today but was called a lot of things during its lifetime. The main focus is on the numerous wars fought by the Russian people to create, consolidate, and defend the motherland. Along the way, Galeotti helpfully points out specific events which Putin uses to try and fool anyone within hearing distance that there is historical precedence for the various countries he tramples over.

Galeotti himself points out a true detailing of all of these wars would fill numerous volumes. Each chapter ends with a supplemental reading list in case you want to know more about how, for example, Ivan the Terrible was actually a great state builder until he become... well, terrible. This does mean the narrative will have some overlapping timelines and I am sure some generous generalizing. What I find makes Galeotti so readable under these circumstances is his ability to focus on a character and tell their story which applies to the general time period. A listing of wars and who won them would be very dull. Explaining how Peter the Great built his military apparatus and used it is much more entertaining. It also helps that Galeotti's dry wit is still in full force. I highly recommend it.

(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by Netgalley and Osprey Publishing.)

[Caleb Fogler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forged in War: A Military History of Russia, from Its Beginnings to Today by Mark Galeotti explores the military history of Russia from its emergence under the Viking/Slavic hybrid city states to its active war with Ukraine. Throughout the author shows how the different authoritarian regimes throughout history have defended Russia or expanded the empire whether into Siberia and the East or to the Baltic Sea and Europe to the West. Galeotti manages to take a complex look at the psyche of leaders such as Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great, and even Putin and show how each leader responds to challenges to their reign and nation.

I really enjoyed this book and felt like I learned a lot in a very short amount of pages. I really appreciate the background and explanation of the modern Ukrainian war as described from an expert on the region and its history. I also like that the author went all the way back in history when the Vikings established the first city states in the 7th century to show the links of war throughout time and to explain how we got to where we are today.

Overall, it’s a great read and easy to digest if you’re looking for history on medieval Russia, to Russia under the Mongols, Russia in the Napoleonic Wars, the Russian Revolution, and even Russia in the Cold War. But my favorite addition is the end of each chapter where the author includes additional suggestions if the reader is particular interested in that time period or people and the addition of outside media suggestions whether it’s a movie on Vladimir the Great or a video game on the Russo-Japanese War.

[Nathan Casebolt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read several histories of Russia, but the best education I received was a game of Axis & Allies in which I drew the role of the Soviet Union. With German armor driving on Moscow, I urged my Western allies with increasing desperation to do something — anything — to take the pressure off me. I felt, irrationally, as if the British and American players secretly wanted me knocked out of the game.

Russia is a blood-soaked story drenched in the paranoia that someone, somewhere, is out to get you. This is crucial to understanding a state that habitually destabilizes the globe in its quest for stability. British author Mark Galeotti, writing from more than thirty years of experience with his subject, captures that paradox with a quote from a Russian veteran: “Yes, Russians can do terrible things to protect their Motherland, but it's because we know the price of war that we understand the value of peace.”

Galeotti translates this paradox into a language Westerners can understand using the lexicon of Russia’s wars. Not all of them, of course: he admits in his introduction that “it quickly became clear what a foolish ambition” that would be. Instead, he frames his narrative around twenty-four key conflicts in as many chapters, progressing chronologically from the raid on Constantinople in 860 to the drive on Kyiv in 2022, which he covers in a final chapter provocatively entitled “Putin’s Hubris.” Unsurprisingly, Russia banned Galeotti from its borders within months of that invasion.

If you already know your Russian history, Galeotti offers little that’s new. He follows well-established lines of Russian historiography; for example, attributing the nation’s martial culture partly to its lack of natural borders and a consequent felt need to push the limits of state security ever outward. You won’t find any fresh or revisionist takes here. On the other hand, if you aren’t well versed in the subject, then “Forged in War” is a solid starting point. Galeotti provides a strong narrative thread that’s clear and easy to follow, which is good given the number of Vladimirs and Ivans and Alexanders he has to juggle.

What you won’t get is a fully-fledged history of Russia. Galeotti sets his goalpost early, offering to help the reader “understand the ways that war and military security have shaped not just Russia's past, but its own sense of its present - and the ways that there is real debate about its future.” In other words, this book is all war, all the time. The evolution of Russian Orthodoxy, the enslavement and emancipation of the serfs, the challenge of incorporating Islamic realms into an Orthodox Empire, the experience of Russia’s Jews, and other such topics come into glancing focus if or when the thesis demands it — with the exception of a slightly more involved discussion of Cossack culture in order to contextualize the origins of Ukrainian nationalism and Putin’s determination to exterminate the same.

This isn’t a bad goalpost given the vastness of Russian history and Galeotti’s specialized interest in explaining how we got from Rus raiders cutting through the Black Sea to T-72s burning on the road to Kyiv. “Forged in War” provides a competent understanding of Russia’s militarized and messianic psychology, and I recommend the book as a readable explainer of Russia’s tendency to defend itself in other people’s countries; but it lacks the sociological and cultural context to explain fully this enigmatic holdover from the age of empire. To balance this, each chapter provides a shortlist not only of recommended additional reading, but also of movies, television series, and even tabletop wargames that give texture and flavor to the various epochs in Russia’s past.

Something else to note is that we history addicts are always tempted to overinterpret the present in terms of the past. The shadow of Putin’s war in Ukraine projects backward throughout Galeotti’s book, such as in his criticism of the “old men in the Kremlin” whose invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 sprang from a delusion that Kabul represented a “desperate zero-sum struggle for global supremacy” even though America barely knew or cared about it. Anyone tracking the war in Ukraine has seen this complaint before.

For another example, Galeotti’s summary of Tsar Nicholas II could not be aimed more obviously at Vladimir Putin: “He was weak enough to be dangerous for the regime, foolish enough not to understand the threats facing Russia, stubborn enough not to listen to those who did, and credulous enough to listen to people whom he really shouldn't have paid attention to. This includes those who assured him that...'a nice, victorious little war' would unite and cheer the nation.” Galeotti doesn’t need to come right out and say that Putin risks the disintegration of Russia and a bullet in a basement, and it’s up to the reader to decide whether the author is seeing repetition where there is only rhyme.

For all that, the past does rhyme. Whether tsar, secretary, or president, Russian autocrats all seem to fall into the same patterns of dysfunction, paranoia, repression, and war. Galeotti’s narrative makes it difficult to imagine a Russia that integrates well into a peaceful global order unless its national mythology undergoes a dramatic (and likely traumatic) change. At least since Muscovy’s emergence from its submission to the Mongols, Russia’s elite have cast themselves as the saviors of mankind and last defense against barbarism. This quasi-mystical sense of destiny warps all perceived security threats into demons to be exorcised, whether those supposed demons are steppe nomads, Caucasian hilltop raiders, blitzkrieging Nazis, or libertine Western democracies. Russia will always fight to save first the Motherland and then the rest of the world, whether the rest of the world wants to be saved or not.

[Nightwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be a difficult one to review. The conceit - the history of Russia told via the history of individual battles - is a good one, and up until the nineteenth century it works really well. Of necessity Galeotti gives us a potted history of what else is going on in Russia (or Rus' or Muscovy) at the time as context for the battle he's discussing, but the narrative is smooth and straightforward and he does an excellent job at linking the battles and history back and forth, so he's referencing twentieth-century or twenty-first-century events while explaining something that happened in the middle ages, which again lends context to what we're reading.

Then we hit the nineteenth century and it basically becomes a giant mess. In a larger sense I think the issue is the globalization of war at this point; you can no longer briefly explain what's going on in the vicinity of Russia without first explaining, e.g., what the heck Napoleon is doing in France. Or perhaps you could - I'm not a historian, I've never tried to distill the Napoleonic Wars down to a couple pages, maybe it's possible? - but Galeotti doesn't. Where, for example, we have a couple sentences at most explaining what's going on in the Mongol Empire outside of their invasion of Russia, now we have epic, sweeping, global (or at least European-wide) battles and wars, and consequently a whole host of other things that require explanation.

We're also suddenly getting much more than a few brief sentences on Russian history outside of this particular battle. The battles seem to be an afterthought as we approach the twentieth century in favor of a brief history of Russia in total, and it feels very different as a narrative. It feels rushed and incomplete; there's just too much information there and Galeotti is rushing through it to get it all on page. I get it, the history of Russia was complicated, but it's really too complicated to be covered with this framing. It feels both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time, because he doesn't have enough space to include everything he would need to in order to make it all make sense.

When we hit the twenty-first century I found it became much more readable again; Galeotti's no longer trying to cram in the substance of something he, and others, wrote many, many books about, and instead is just giving the reader an explanation of what the heck is going on inside Russia militarily in the twenty-first century, based in large part on his own research and interviews. This is the kind of contemporary narrative that's informative and engrossing - Galeotti's an excellent writer overall, and has the background to actually pull together a narrative that makes sense.

The setup of the book makes it easy to dip in and out of; as a result, I'd say dip into the beginning chapters and the last few, and just skip the nineteenth and twentieth centuries unless you're curious. Otherwise, check his bibliographies (which are excellent) and pick up a few of those books to learn more about those periods.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley, but these are my own honest opinions.

[Kaj Roihio]

Sattuneesta syystä Venäjästä ja sen historiasta on viime aikoina ilmestynyt paljon kirjoja. Aiheesta aiemminkin kirjoittanut brittiläinen Mark Galeotti keskittyy venäläisyyden tympeimpään ominaisuuteen eli sotaisuuteen.
Jos aihe on aiemmin tuttu, Galeotti ei tarjoa paljon uutta. Historialliset käännekohdat ravataan läpi, kunnes 1900-luvulle tultaessa juututaan tarpeettomaan pikkutarkkuuteen. En tiedä, onko kokonaiskuvan kannalta suurtakaan merkitystä mikä divisioona missäkin sai selkäänsä tai voitti vastustajansa. Muutenkin Sodista taottu Venäjä on vähän kiireessä kirjoitetun tuntuinen.
Kiinnostava tästä tulee aivan viimeisissä luvuissa, jolloin Galeotti käsittelee nykyistä Putinin Venäjää. Se lienee hänen varsinaista osaamistaan muutenkin. On jo pitkään tuntunut, että Venäjä on ainoa maa, joka edelleen elää toisen maailmansodan päättymisen jälkeisiä vuosia. He määrittelevät itsensä sodan kautta ja näkevät siten puolustavansa jotain ainutkertaista, jopa messiaanista. Maan rajojen sisäpuolella asuu pelkästään joko patriootteja tai pettureita. Rajojen ulkopuolella toisaalta ei mitään muuta olekaan kuin vihollisia. Ortodoksipapit siunaavat murhaamaan lähtevät sotajoukot.
Venäjän historia puoltaa näkemystä, että siitä ei koskaan tule demokraattista ja edes osittain liberaalia yhteiskuntaa, mutta itse uskallan olla toiveikkaasti eri mieltä. Yksikään valtio tai kansakunta ei ole ollut alusta lähtien demokraattinen ja joillain muutos on kestänyt pitempään kuin toisilla. Mitä ikinä kansanluonteesta sanotaankaan, monella venäläisellä on paljon enemmän rohkeutta kuin minulla ikinä tulee olemaan heidän vastustaessaan murhanhimoista fasistihallintoa.
Sodista taottu Venäjä on kelvollinen perusteos Venäjän historiasta ja jos ihmiskunnan historia on sotien historiaa, niin Venäjän suhteen näin vasta onkin. Toisin sanoen sotiin painottuminen ei vääristä kokonaisuutta kovinkaan paljon. Tämä on helppolukuinen ja asiantuntevasti kirjoitettu teos ja saattaa hyvinkin lisätä nälkää oppia ja lukea aiheesta lisää. Itse en ole sitä mieltä, että Venäjä tai venäläiset olisivat mitenkään muita pahempia, mutta erinäiset hallitsijat ovat olleen omiensa pahimpia vihollisia, mukaan lukien nykyinen hallinto.

[JorgVonRiminsk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Waste of 34 euros. Military history is not Galeotti`s forte and this book confirms it once again. List of my issues with this book is long:
- Autor often omits details critical to understanding the events he describes (ex. viking policies towards the polities they ride and thus dynamics of varangian invitation to rule local savs).- Questionable decision to approach the book by subject rather than by period. War is a complex social phenomenon where it is impossible to clearly distinguish between black and white, unless it`s done post factum. (ex.book fis to explain why rus t struggled fighting horseback nomads, time and time again falling to their usual tactics).
- The book seems to be just a collection of war related observations failing to provide the reader with an analytical framework to understand how those developments are relevant for future developments. (ex: Battle of Lake Peipus, if we omit the Soviet propaganda, I fail to see any of its relevance for future developments in Rus).
- Rather questionable sources (Ex: other sources on Battle of Lake Peipus cite much lower casualties on crusaders side).
- Lack of understanding of military history(ex. statements that firearms were the factor that led to decline of cavalry, or  Napoleonic period producing revolution in military affairs).
- Outright mistakes (ex. Charles the 12th became the Lion of the North).
- Poor editing (ex. First Chechen war starting in 1984).

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this complicated and complex history of Russia and its military past and present, Mark Galeotti focuses on a series of questions about how and why Russia goes to war, forges its national identity in it, and how these wars impact their history, politics, culture, and reputation in and out of the country. From the medieval wars against Scandinavia and the Mongol empire to nineteenth century empire building in Asia and twentieth century revolutions, the book covers the ways in which warfare shaped Russia and how it led to Putin’s rise at the beginning of the twenty-first century and the current Ukrainian invasion and war. With its focus on primary documents and historical analysis, the depth of detail and information in this book does a fantastic job in bringing these different wars together to create this larger analysis and picture of Russia, while Galeotti’s narrative style is incredibly effective and well-written. This clever consolidation of military histories and the emphasis on creating the big picture through a series of related events is a fantastic example of the benefits of history books and historical analysis and their relationship to current events and modern politics in this detailed, interesting, and important new release.

Thanks to NetGalley and Osprey Publishing for the advance copy.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read that covers a very extensive amount of history. Starting well before what is considered modern day Russian as we know it is formed, the author follows large chunks that are thematically linked to describe history, and through a special lens of war. From struggling against Viking raiders, to the mongol yoke, to Turkic clashes, and expansion of borders.

In no way could you cover every aspect, but the author recognizes that and did a goods job distilling things to key moments and their larger context, while also including necessary bits of other factors (political machinations, economic pressures, etc.) to help rebel motivations of the times and at times their link to modern era. I found it especially helpful that each chapter ended with a brief literary review of additional sources if you want more information. I also liked his quippy little comments such as “A staple of Russian security is the pendulum swings between fear of external threat and fear of internal unrest” or that “Vladimir Putin, a man whose passion for history is only equalled by his inability to understand it.”

Things digs get more fuzzy in the modern era, globalization makes describing history in this way much more complex and unwieldy to tackle, but I think the author did a good job still. I’d definitely recommend it for others, a good read.

[Maksim Aseev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forged in War presents itself as a sweeping military history of Russia, but it unfortunately reads more like a collection of loosely connected summaries than a serious work of scholarship. The narrative relies heavily on oversimplifications, cliché interpretations, and what often feels like information pulled straight from easily accessible online sources rather than original research or thoughtful analysis.

The book’s framing leans so strongly into a preconceived anti-Russian narrative that it becomes difficult to take seriously as an objective historical account. Instead of engaging with the complexity of Russian history, the author opts for a one-dimensional and frequently sensationalized portrayal, which weakens the credibility of the entire work.

If the author intends to write authoritative history, I would strongly recommend beginning with established works by genuine scholars—such as George Vernadsky’s History of Russia—before attempting a project of this scope. Vernadsky may be dated in some areas, but he offers an example of depth, nuance, and respect for primary sources that this book sorely lacks.

I am giving this book 2 stars only because the chronology of events is, for the most part, accurate. Beyond that minimal merit, the work does little to contribute meaningfully to the study of Russian military history.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russia has a very complex history, and it can be very difficult to follow. There are aspects of it that I have had some issues with, even though I hold both degrees in history. I will say that I always enjoyed reading through the Romanov history and its tragic ending.

This was a fantastic book, full of great information and a well-informed break down. With the often confusing jumble of history, I really enjoyed being able to get a great background in the history and running of the military.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the suggested reading at the end of each chapter. I do enjoy diving into different books, and reading deeper on the topics that interest me. I didn't have to go through the bibliography to find books that I might want to check out.

Enjoyable and full of interesting facts.

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid review of Russia history from a military perspective. It can’t account for everything, but what parts of history it does discuss, it involves a military flavor, from the various wars of royal succession in Kievyan Rus, to the Mongols, the constant battles with the Ottomans/Turks and its Eastward expansion. Events like the Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World War II get the bulk of the attention, mainly due to the access to resources. The chapters are generally readable and you don’t have to be a military historian to comprehend what all is being written. Of note, the author includes sourcing at the end of each chapter, including video games and visual media, which is a nice touch for a historical work. Worth at least one read.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author did a fine job with an impossible task: cover 1000+ years of history, following just the one (military) theme, and don't get bogged down. In that sense, a fine achievement.
The parameters of the book, of course, meant that there were disappointments here and there with whatever might be anyone's favorite period/event/personality. But for areas I was less familiar with, it felt like a solid introduction. The "Want to Know More?" recommendations at the end of each chapter were a delight, especially the author's unvarnished opinion on how erudite, stuffy, or just plain wrong other books are.

[Laura N · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The book seemed to be laid out chronologically by battles/history. The individual chapters felt a little all over the place. His narrative style is unique in that he keeps it light and interjects modern events, but it makes for a choppy read. If I didn’t know a lot about Russian History I would have been confused in the earlier chapters.

I did like the “ Want to know more” box at the end of each chapter. He ties things up nicely at the end.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the main argument of the book and the fact that Galeotti comes to the conclusion that a major shock, the kind that a defeat in its aggression against Ukraine can be, is needed for Russia to start changing its strategic culture forged in war. The history of wars is too detailed for me but gives one an idea of Russia's "peaceful" nature.

[Jose Gomez-Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forged in War- repression, corruption, incompetence and a sense of infereriority

Russia isn’t an enigma so much as a state characterized by endemic wars, conquest, repression and corruption. Galeotti details many of these factors but fails to state the logical conclusion which is that currently Russia is undeniably a failed state.

[Andy Wiesendanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Felt like early parts were just a bunch of people group names, and places that were hard to keep track of. Not sure if Russia much different than other European states in dealing with so much war, or even other areas of the world, but certainly was a regular occurence.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive lay down of Russian history through the war, campaigns, and battles fought by the country. What I really appreciate is the recommended further drill down readings, movies, and games.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this type of read. An abridged history of Russian power with suggestions for further reading. An excellent source for understanding a complex history

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful journey through Russian history focused on how war has always impacted Russian strategy, policy, and governance. Great analysis throughout. (11/2025)

[Mr Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, including the reading list at the end of each chapter. But, how quickly a book is overtaken by events - Trumps US has upended what possibilities are now open to Putin.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Russia, perhaps more than most other countries, has been shaped by its precarious strategic position, meaning that war and the military have been central to the development of Russian society.

[Rasmus Stoltzenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

intriguing. insightful. interesting. a look at what shaped and continues to shape russian strategic culture.

[Elina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kattava pikakelaus Venäjän sotaisaan historiaan.

[Moss Gillespie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining history of Russia. Makes you almost want to visit the country if it wasn't run by a evil vampire.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.