Bravery in the face of obliteration as described in a new book by Andrew Harding
A three-day battle took place away from the gaze of the world.
Love Books in Melville was the scene of a book launch and a goodbye to one of Johannesburg’s most well-known foreign correspondents.
Andrew Harding who works for the BBC has been in Africa covering news from the continent and abroad for 19 years and is headed to Paris to continue his reporting.
His book, A Small, Stubborn Town, is about the battle of a handful of characters against the mighty Russian army as Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
Kate Rogan, owner of Love Books said, “We were jam-packed for the launch. Loads of journalists turned up to celebrate Andrew Harding who is leaving our shores, and to listen to him talk to Mondli Makhanya, City Press editor-in-chief, about his latest book. This is a little book that packs a mighty punch, and it was fascinating hearing him talk about the realities on the ground in Ukraine.”
Harding describes his book as, “The tale of one short but decisive battle that took place in a small farming community that decided, at enormous risk, to take a stand and defend their key bridges against the well-armed Russian attack.”
“It felt like a microcosm of the conflict and captured the spirit of defiance, resistance and determination that became such a mark of this conflict.”
He says capturing this moment was important even though in the larger picture the conflict remains unresolved.
“It is not a current affairs book, nor an attempt to explain the war. It is a narrative non-fiction novel about the three-day battle from the perspectives of a handful of people who were involved.”
He says the characters explain in their own words which describe the ‘ambiguities and decisions people make when it comes to nationality, language and complex notions of identity in the shadowlands between Russia and Ukraine’.
Descriptions of the townspeople’s self-organising, self-defence units which were unexpectedly, and at the last minute supported by the Ukrainian efforts are inspiring. “Russia did not expect resistance and sent convoys into town. By making a stand they saved much of the area from encirclement like Odesa from being attacked on land.”
Harding says he learned of the battle shortly afterwards as much focus was on the bigger cities when the war began. “I arrived in the town a week or two later and have been back several times as I covered the war in the east and wanted to write a book about this pivotal moment.”
He ends by saying, “A little bridge can make a huge difference.”
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