Shannon Monaghan

Historian of modern war Dr Shannon Monaghan tells the story of western volunteers fighting Russia on the frontline in the Ukrainian International Legion.

Monaghan tells of a core of western volunteers in Ukraine fighting together in the early days of the battle for Kyiv and the last stands at Severodonetsk and Bakhmut. She explains how these men knew they would be fighting without NATO support and that they would face criticism for fighting someone else’s war. However, she says they also knew it was the right thing to do.

Monaghan worked as an intern in international arms transfers at the US State Department.  She went on to work in strategy consulting and data analytics and to teach writing at Harvard. She is also author of A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II.

Part of the festival’s programme of American literature and culture.