Scott Horton's book, Provoked, is a good read but it is over 600 pages.

It provides a wider context starting from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the re-purposing of NATO.

The tragedy is that the end of the Cold War should have led to the creation of a pan-European security framework (to include Russia).

Instead, US imperial hubris and the fantasy of perpetual unipolar hegemony held sway. In the '90s Russia was severely weakened and China had not yet risen sufficiently, economically and technologically.

US misplaced hubris has led to where we are today.
China and Russia (and Iran) have been pushed together - totally unanticipated.

Europe has isolated itself from the rest of the rising Eurasian heartland, subordinating itself to US interests entirely. But is now in a state of panic because it cannot be sure if the US has got its back or not.

Ukraine, which could have been a bridge between Europe and Asia, has allowed itself to be destroyed serving the US illusion that it could be used to weaken or destroy Russia.

The question is: will the Europeans be stupid enough to allow themselves to be used to try to do to Russia what the Ukrainians have failed to do?