The man the whole world is talking about—President Volodymyr Zelensky, once Ukraine’s most popular comedic actor, has become the most celebrated statesman. The first major book written about this unlikely leader and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is available now.
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On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Forty days later the book Zelensky, written by Australian authors Andrew L. Urban and Chris McLeod, is released. Read an extract here:
As President Zelensky began a video-link world tour of Western Parliaments making his case for military help to repel the illegal, immoral and murderous Russian invasion, the authors were following him online and gathering information about this 44-year-old phenomenon.
Zelensky combines the urgent reality of the war unfolding with the important background—both personal and political—of this unlikely hero, leader of the Servant of the People Party, born from a satirical TV show he starred in.
For author Andrew L. Urban, the scenes of people fleeing Ukraine into Poland and other surrounding countries was all too familiar. Now based in Sydney, Andrew fled Hungary as a child during the 1956 Revolution and knows first-hand the refugee experience. ‘Deep-diving into the phenomenon of how Zelensky rose from untested, politically inexperienced President of Ukraine to a global hero has been fascinating,’ he says. ‘Pulling together the dramatic speeches and the accolades into a single book chronicling his rise—and the reasons for it—even while the invaders were pounding his country, was a visceral experience. Having myself escaped Russian tanks in 1956, I had a deep-seated understanding of and empathy with Zelensky and his people.’ Author Chis McLeod, based in Melbourne, is a former newspaper journalist and executive, he was Foreign Editor and News Editor at the Newcastle Morning Herald and News Editor at the Melbourne Herald.
Beyond Zelensky, the book details the history of Ukraine and the USSR; the machines of war in the conflict; the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which obliges the US, UK and even the Russian Federation to protect Ukraine; and the influential role social media has played for both Zelensky and Putin as the war unfolds online.
With a foreword by former US Government intelligence analyst Rebekah Koffler, author of Putin’s Playbook, Zelensky is published by Wilkinson Publishing.
Review copies, extracts and interviews with Andrew L. Urban, Chris McLeod and Rebekah Koffler are available.
RRP $24.99, Paperback, 192 pages, ISBN 9781922810052