Audiobook (abridged)4 hours
Zelensky: A Biography of Ukraine's War Leader
Written by Steven Derix
Narrated by Christian Neil
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Zelensky is the first major biography of Ukraine's leader written for a Western audience.
Told with flair and authority, it is the gripping story of one of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.
Action-packed biography of Ukraine's comedian-turned-President
Millions who have admired Volodymyr Zelensky's defiance during Russia's invasion of Ukraine will learn much from this up-to-date biography of the Ukrainian President.
Zelensky's life to date has been packed with drama and action.
By the age of 20, the Jewish boy from the provincial town of Kryvyi Rih had become a star of the stage.
At 30, he headed a multimillion-dollar TV company.
At 40, he took on Ukraine's corrupt political and business elite in a TV drama, playing a history teacher who becomes President.
Then he launched a real-life political party named after the TV show, won a landslide victory and became Ukraine's real President.
When Russian troops flooded across the border, Zelensky refused Western offers to leave Kyiv. He has marshalled Ukraine's resistance and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons. Zelensky said: 'If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me. Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when I leave.'
Zelensky is written by a long-standing Russia and Ukraine reporter and a Russian- and Ukrainian speaking researcher. It's a pithy biography of Zelensky for anyone who wants to understand Ukraine's charismatic head of state, his complex country, and its vexed relationship with Russia.
Covering Zelensky's life from his childhood to the Ukrainian presidency, Zelensky deals with his background in a Russian-speaking region of Ukraine, his early career in TV taking part in KVN talent competitions, and his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry.
Then it deals with Zelensky's breakthrough moment in the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption. The show becomes a reality and Zelensky's party, Servant of the People, takes power.
Zelensky's presidency is marred by his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of millions of dollars.
Nonetheless, Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on powerful vested interests in Europe's second-largest country. Then with his doggedness, speeches and strategy, he marshals Ukraine's staunch resistance to a superpower – a fight that most analysts assume Russia will quickly win. But they do not - and Ukraine starts to turn the tide of the war.
Zelensky and his country become symbols of defiance against Vladimir Putin's aggression. Zelensky: A Biography of Ukraine's War Leader is both an uplifting story and an urgent message from Ukraine.
Extract
In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.
One month later, the Russian President attended the World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since Russia's annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still commonplace in eastern Ukraine.
'Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he became President?' asked the interviewer.
Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was going to be good...
Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look and waited until the sniggering had died down... 'Listen, I do not know this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell, he's amazing at what he does, he's a marvellous actor.'
Putin continued: 'But seriously: it's one thing to play a person, but quite another thing to be that person.'
Laughter and generous ap
Told with flair and authority, it is the gripping story of one of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.
Action-packed biography of Ukraine's comedian-turned-President
Millions who have admired Volodymyr Zelensky's defiance during Russia's invasion of Ukraine will learn much from this up-to-date biography of the Ukrainian President.
Zelensky's life to date has been packed with drama and action.
By the age of 20, the Jewish boy from the provincial town of Kryvyi Rih had become a star of the stage.
At 30, he headed a multimillion-dollar TV company.
At 40, he took on Ukraine's corrupt political and business elite in a TV drama, playing a history teacher who becomes President.
Then he launched a real-life political party named after the TV show, won a landslide victory and became Ukraine's real President.
When Russian troops flooded across the border, Zelensky refused Western offers to leave Kyiv. He has marshalled Ukraine's resistance and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons. Zelensky said: 'If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me. Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when I leave.'
Zelensky is written by a long-standing Russia and Ukraine reporter and a Russian- and Ukrainian speaking researcher. It's a pithy biography of Zelensky for anyone who wants to understand Ukraine's charismatic head of state, his complex country, and its vexed relationship with Russia.
Covering Zelensky's life from his childhood to the Ukrainian presidency, Zelensky deals with his background in a Russian-speaking region of Ukraine, his early career in TV taking part in KVN talent competitions, and his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry.
Then it deals with Zelensky's breakthrough moment in the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption. The show becomes a reality and Zelensky's party, Servant of the People, takes power.
Zelensky's presidency is marred by his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of millions of dollars.
Nonetheless, Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on powerful vested interests in Europe's second-largest country. Then with his doggedness, speeches and strategy, he marshals Ukraine's staunch resistance to a superpower – a fight that most analysts assume Russia will quickly win. But they do not - and Ukraine starts to turn the tide of the war.
Zelensky and his country become symbols of defiance against Vladimir Putin's aggression. Zelensky: A Biography of Ukraine's War Leader is both an uplifting story and an urgent message from Ukraine.
Extract
In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.
One month later, the Russian President attended the World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since Russia's annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still commonplace in eastern Ukraine.
'Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he became President?' asked the interviewer.
Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was going to be good...
Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look and waited until the sniggering had died down... 'Listen, I do not know this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell, he's amazing at what he does, he's a marvellous actor.'
Putin continued: 'But seriously: it's one thing to play a person, but quite another thing to be that person.'
Laughter and generous ap
Related to Zelensky
Related audiobooks
The Soviet Sixties Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Putin's Wars and NATO's Flaws: Why Russia Invaded Ukraine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWeak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moscow, December 25,1991: The Last Day of the Soviet Union Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kremlin Winter: Russia and the Second Coming of Vladimir Putin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, from the Pagans to Putin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Return of the Russian Leviathan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Zelensky Effect Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Russia Without Putin: Money, Power and the Myths of the New Cold War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVladimir Putin: Tsar Of The 21st Century: Ex-Kgb Agent To President - Putin’S Dictatorship And Regime Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Long Hangover: Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Putin's Footsteps: Searching for the Soul of an Empire Across Russia's Eleven Time Zones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Empire Must Die: Russia's Revolutionary Collapse, 1900 - 1917 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Russian History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Two Lives, One Russia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Modern Ukraine History: Ukraine At War Russia 2014-2022: Zelensky Vs Putin And The Future Of Ukraine, Russia And Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKGB History: 100 Years Of Soviet Terror: The Secret Police Of Russia: Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKVD, KGB, FSK & FSB Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin’s War Against Ukraine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soviet Union: The History and Legacy of the USSR from World War I to the End of the Cold War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory Of KGB And FSB Spy Operations: The Red Terror, 2 Books In 1: Soviet Secret Service Operations And Political Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Wartime: Stories from Ukraine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Russia: A Short History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Russian Revolution: An Enthralling Guide to a Major Event in the History of Russia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Collapse of the Soviet Union: The History of the USSR Under Mikhail Gorbachev Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Political Biographies For You
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A House in the Sky: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lincoln Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Benjamin Franklin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Infidel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mornings on Horseback Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Zelensky
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating0 reviews