LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026

A spellbinding first-hand account of art, survival and resistance in wartime Ukraine

'The most beautifully written, moving book I can ever remember reading'
PHILIPPA PERRY

'A book for our times'
PHILIPPE SANDS

'A brilliant and unforgettable book'
EDMUND DE WAAL

Charlotte Higgins never imagined she would report on a war. But in the autumn of 2022, seven months into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she travelled there to find out how artists and writers were reflecting the devastating events in their work. The experience would change her life.

In a war fuelled by the attempted erasure of Ukrainian culture - a war that has killed countless artists and created countless more - art has become a matter of life and death. In times of war, art and literature are where difficulty and complexity survive: where the most painful, unspeakable truths can still be faced.

Drawing on two decades of cultural journalism, three years of reporting trips to Ukraine and her training as a classicist, Ukrainian Lessons explores the profound connections between war, art and life. It is a searing, urgent and unforgettable book about what artists are prepared to risk - and why culture is worth fighting for.

'An excellent book'
HENRY MARSH

'A survival manual for our blood-stricken times'
JACQUELINE ROSE

'Beautiful, erudite, heart-breaking'
LINDSEY HILSUM