Hammersmith Author Tells of Horseback Escape from Moscow

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Michael Pugh's Riding Through War and Peace is a memoir of a time of conflict

Michael Pugh riding his horse in Ukraine

November 2, 2026

A Hammersmith Grove resident has published a new travel memoir recounting an unusual journey across Eastern Europe undertaken as conflict erupted in Ukraine in 2014.

Michael Pugh's book, Riding Through War and Peace, follows the author's horseback journey from Moscow through rural Russia, Belarus, western Ukraine and Romania in the months after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Pugh, a lawyer, academic and founder of the Llangwm Literary Festival, had lived in Moscow for six years as a partner with international law firm Hogan Lovells. Having first visited the Russian capital as a student in 1992, he developed a long-standing interest in the countries of the former Soviet Union and later wrote about Ukraine for both the Sunday Times and the Royal Geographical Society.

Rather than leaving Russia by plane, Pugh chose a more unconventional route. The book opens in the summer of 2014, with tensions rising following the seizure of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Against that geopolitical backdrop, Pugh decides to depart Moscow on horseback, embarking on a journey that takes him through remote landscapes, historic sites and communities shaped by centuries of complex European history.

Travelling first through the Russian countryside, he rides across wildflower meadows and past monasteries, battlefields and former aristocratic estates. Along the way he is joined by a dog named Friday, becoming a regular companion on the trek westward.

Crossing into Belarus, Pugh exchanges one horse for another and encounters local traditions including the midsummer Kupala festival, with its rituals of fire, music and dancing. The journey also explores the region's multicultural past, including the legacy of Polish and Jewish communities whose presence has largely disappeared from many areas.

Despite warnings about travelling through Ukraine at a time of war, Pugh describes finding welcoming communities and a strong sense of national identity among people determined to defend their country.

The final stages of the odyssey take him into Romania and Transylvania, where the book examines the enduring influence of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire alongside the challenges of modern Eastern Europe.

Throughout the narrative, political and historical observations are balanced with lighter moments involving horses, guides, stable hands and the hospitality of people encountered on the road.

The book has attracted praise from several established writers and commentators, including Catherine Belton, Barnaby Rogerson, Roger Lewis and Miranda Seymour.

Telegraph foreign correspondent Adrian Blomfield, describes the work as "a wistful, whimsical romp along Europe's geopolitical frontlines". Blomfield praises the book's combination of travel writing, history and personal observation, writing that it offers "an engaging view from the saddle" while depicting the countries and people encountered with "humour and compassion".

Pugh will discuss Riding Through War and Peace at a free event at Hammersmith Library on Thursday 19 November at 6pm, where readers will have the opportunity to hear more about the journey and the experiences that inspired the book.

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