Unfinished Empire

Russian Imperialism in Ukraine and the Near Abroad by Donnacha Ó Beacháin; and Putin’s Sledgehammer by Candace Rondeaux
In The News Piece in The Irish Times
Shutterstock
May 24, 2025

Candace Rondeaux’s Putin’s Sledgehammer offers a meticulously reported account of the Wagner Group’s rise, its brutal tactics in Ukraine, and its entanglement with Putin’s regime. Juxtaposed against Donnacha Ó Beacháin’s more polemical Unfinished Empire, Rondeaux’s work stands out to The Irish Times for its investigative depth and refusal to flatten Russian history into a single narrative.

Read here.