A gripping account of Russia's Five-Day War against Georgia in 2008, which is notable for the strategic mistakes that led President Putin to significant military reforms. Following Georgia's independence from Russia in 1991, President Saakashvili invited NATO advisors to assist with military reforms. Separatist groups in Georgia's border provinces rebelled, leading to clashes in South Ossetia during August 2008. The Russian army invaded Georgia along with these forces, stripping it of the rebel provinces and camping there to maintain a threat against Georgia. Despite the expected outcome of this highly unequal conflict, it revealed severe military weaknesses and ineptitudes of Russia, with the Georgian army, trained by NATO and partly equipped by the West, resisting much more effectively than Russia expected. The conflict also marked the first use of Russian cyber warfare and the so-called 'hybrid warfare' doctrine.

Author Mark Galeotti is an expert in international relations and a former Foreign Office advisor on Russian security issues. In this book, he provides a vivid depiction of the Russian, Georgian, Abkhaz, and South Ossetian forces and offers a detailed analysis of the conflict. Using careful artwork for uniforms, insignia, and equipment, rare photographs, and detailed 'event boxes' for key units and individuals, this book is a compelling guide to Russia's Five-Day War in Georgia.