{"id":94801,"date":"2022-08-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/product\/zelensky\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T12:40:12","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T12:40:12","slug":"zelensky","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Action-packed biography of Ukraine&#8217;s leader<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Millions who have admired Volodymyr Zelensky&#8217;s defiance during Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine will learn much from this up-to-date biography of the Ukrainian President. Zelensky&#8217;s life to date has been packed with drama and action.<\/p>\n<p>By the age of 20, the Jewish boy from the provincial\u00c2\u00a0town of Kryvyi Rih had become a star of the stage.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At 30, he headed a multimillion-dollar TV company.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>At 40, he took on Ukraine&#8217;s corrupt political and business\u00c2\u00a0elite in a TV drama where he played a history teacher who becomes President.\u00c2\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Then he launched a real-life political party named after the TV show, won a landslide victory and became Ukraine&#8217;s real President.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>When Russian troops flooded across the border, Zelensky refused Western offers to leave Kyiv. He has marshalled Ukraine&#8217;s resistance\u00c2\u00a0and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He said: &#8216;If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me.\u00c2\u00a0Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when\u00c2\u00a0I leave.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Covering Zelensky&#8217;s background and bustling TV career\u00c2\u00a0through to his first, controversial years in office to\u00c2\u00a0Russia&#8217;s full-scale blitzkrieg, <em>Zelensky<\/em><em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>is written by a long-standing Russia and Ukraine reporter and a Russian- and Ukrainian speaking researcher.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a pithy biography of Zelensky for anyone who wants\u00c2\u00a0to understand Ukraine&#8217;s charismatic head of state, his\u00c2\u00a0complex country, and its vexed relationship with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Covering Zelensky&#8217;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; his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry; and his breakthrough moment in\u00c2\u00a0the TV series <em>Servant of the People <\/em>playing a teacher, Vasyl\u00c2\u00a0Holoborodko, who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption.<\/p>\n<p>The show becomes a reality and Zelensky and his party, called Servant of the People, take power. Zelensky&#8217;s presidency is dogged by controversy concerning his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of tens of millions of dollars (used to buy luxury property in London). Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on\u00c2\u00a0powerful vested interests in Europe&#8217;s second-largest country &#8211; before\u00c2\u00a0fighting a superpower in a fight most assume Ukraine will quickly lose (but they don&#8217;t).<\/p>\n<p><em>Zelensky: Ukraine&#8217;s President and His Country<\/em> is the first major biography of Ukraine&#8217;s leader written for a Western audience. Told with flair and authority, it is the gripping story of one\u00c2\u00a0of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">About the authors<\/span><\/p>\n<p>STEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the prestigious Dutch newspaper NRC. Together with Dolf de Groot he wrote <em>Blood\u00c2\u00a0Brothers: The Downfall of Team Rabobank<\/em>, which uncovered\u00c2\u00a0Michael Boogerd&#8217;s doping fraud. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.<\/p>\n<p>MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for\u00c2\u00a0<em>NRC\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>and\u00c2\u00a0<em>De Standaard<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">EXTRACT: Start of first chapter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Vladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent.\u00c2\u00a0At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the\u00c2\u00a0meticulous art of profiling &#8216;targets&#8217; of the service, whether\u00c2\u00a0they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist\u00c2\u00a0apparatchiks.<\/p>\n<p>Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their\u00c2\u00a0strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United\u00c2\u00a0States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little\u00c2\u00a0finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian\u00c2\u00a0Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush\u00c2\u00a0told of how he had looked into the &#8216;soul&#8217; of the former KGB\u00c2\u00a0officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited\u00c2\u00a0Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black\u00c2\u00a0labrador Konni brought in. Merkel &#8211; who is terrified of\u00c2\u00a0dogs &#8211; dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the\u00c2\u00a0conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about\u00c2\u00a0people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political\u00c2\u00a0appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the\u00c2\u00a0name of the opposition leader to cross his lips &#8211; not even since\u00c2\u00a0Navalny&#8217;s incarceration in January 2021. Putin&#8217;s spokesperson,\u00c2\u00a0Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as &#8216;that blogger.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth\u00c2\u00a0President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.<\/p>\n<p>One month later, the Russian President attended the World\u00c2\u00a0Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since\u00c2\u00a0Russia&#8217;s annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between\u00c2\u00a0the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still\u00c2\u00a0commonplace in eastern Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he\u00c2\u00a0became President?&#8217; asked the interviewer.<\/p>\n<p>Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business\u00c2\u00a0magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was\u00c2\u00a0going to be good.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You know,&#8217; said Putin, &#8216;he is still pushing a certain rhetoric.\u00c2\u00a0He labels us &#8220;enemies&#8221; and &#8220;aggressors.&#8221; Perhaps he should think\u00c2\u00a0about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.&#8217;\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Putin had still not once uttered the name &#8216;Zelensky.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You are the President of a world power,&#8217; the interviewer\u00c2\u00a0fawned, &#8216;and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country.\u00c2\u00a0Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture\u00c2\u00a0might completely change the course of world history. Why not\u00c2\u00a0simply arrange a meeting?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and\u00c2\u00a0waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople\u00c2\u00a0had died down.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Did I say &#8220;no&#8221;?&#8217; replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added:<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Nobody has invited me.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Are you prepared to meet with him?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Putin now looked genuinely amused. &#8216;Listen, I do not know\u00c2\u00a0this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell,\u00c2\u00a0he&#8217;s amazing at what he does, he&#8217;s a marvellous actor.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Laughter and generous applause filled the room.<\/p>\n<p>Putin continued: &#8216;But seriously: it&#8217;s one thing to play a\u00c2\u00a0person, but quite another thing to be that person.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In &#8216;Zelensky&#8217;, Steven Derix describes the impressive life story of an actor who played a president on TV before being thrust into the role of real-life wartime leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[435],"product_tag":[492,290],"class_list":["post-94801","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-biography-hb","product_tag-biography-historical-political-military","product_tag-history","pa_book_author-derix-steven","pa_cover-hardback","pa_dewey-947-7086092-edition23","pa_imprint-canbury-press","pa_language-english","pa_pages-8388","pa_publisher-canbury-press","pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","first","onbackorder","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zelensky<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Action-packed biography of Ukraine&#039;s leaderMillions who have admired Volodymyr Zelensky&#039;s defiance during Russia&#039;s invasion of Ukraine will learn much from this up-to-date biography of the Ukrainian President. Zelensky&#039;s life to date has been packed with drama and action.By the age of 20, the Jewish boy from the provincial\u00c2\u00a0town 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&#039;s corrupt political and business\u00c2\u00a0elite in a TV drama where he played a history teacher who becomes President.\u00c2\u00a0Then he launched a real-life political party named after the TV show, won a landslide victory and became Ukraine&#039;s real President.When Russian troops flooded across the border, Zelensky refused Western offers to leave Kyiv. He has marshalled Ukraine&#039;s resistance\u00c2\u00a0and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons.He said: &#039;If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me.\u00c2\u00a0Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when\u00c2\u00a0I leave.&#039;Covering Zelensky&#039;s background and bustling TV career\u00c2\u00a0through to his first, controversial years in office to\u00c2\u00a0Russia&#039;s full-scale blitzkrieg, Zelensky\u00c2\u00a0is written by a long-standing Russia and Ukraine reporter and a Russian- and Ukrainian speaking researcher.It&#039;s a pithy biography of Zelensky for anyone who wants\u00c2\u00a0to understand Ukraine&#039;s charismatic head of state, his\u00c2\u00a0complex country, and its vexed relationship with Russia.Covering Zelensky&#039;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; his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry; and his breakthrough moment in\u00c2\u00a0the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher, Vasyl\u00c2\u00a0Holoborodko, who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption.The show becomes a reality and Zelensky and his party, called Servant of the People, take power. Zelensky&#039;s presidency is dogged by controversy concerning his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of tens of millions of dollars (used to buy luxury property in London). Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on\u00c2\u00a0powerful vested interests in Europe&#039;s second-largest country - before\u00c2\u00a0fighting a superpower in a fight most assume Ukraine will quickly lose (but they don&#039;t).Zelensky: Ukraine&#039;s President and His Country is the first major biography of Ukraine&#039;s leader written for a Western audience. Told with flair and authority, it is the gripping story of one\u00c2\u00a0of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.About the authorsSTEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the prestigious Dutch newspaper NRC. Together with Dolf de Groot he wrote Blood\u00c2\u00a0Brothers: The Downfall of Team Rabobank, which uncovered\u00c2\u00a0Michael Boogerd&#039;s doping fraud. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for\u00c2\u00a0NRC\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0De Standaard.EXTRACT: Start of first chapterVladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent.\u00c2\u00a0At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the\u00c2\u00a0meticulous art of profiling &#039;targets&#039; of the service, whether\u00c2\u00a0they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist\u00c2\u00a0apparatchiks.Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their\u00c2\u00a0strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United\u00c2\u00a0States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little\u00c2\u00a0finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian\u00c2\u00a0Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush\u00c2\u00a0told of how he had looked into the &#039;soul&#039; of the former KGB\u00c2\u00a0officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited\u00c2\u00a0Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black\u00c2\u00a0labrador Konni brought in. Merkel - who is terrified of\u00c2\u00a0dogs - dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the\u00c2\u00a0conversation.Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about\u00c2\u00a0people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political\u00c2\u00a0appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the\u00c2\u00a0name of the opposition leader to cross his lips - not even since\u00c2\u00a0Navalny&#039;s incarceration in January 2021. Putin&#039;s spokesperson,\u00c2\u00a0Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as &#039;that blogger.&#039;***In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth\u00c2\u00a0President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.One month later, the Russian President attended the World\u00c2\u00a0Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since\u00c2\u00a0Russia&#039;s annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between\u00c2\u00a0the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still\u00c2\u00a0commonplace in eastern Ukraine.&#039;Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he\u00c2\u00a0became President?&#039; asked the interviewer.Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business\u00c2\u00a0magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was\u00c2\u00a0going to be good.&#039;You know,&#039; said Putin, &#039;he is still pushing a certain rhetoric.\u00c2\u00a0He labels us &quot;enemies&quot; and &quot;aggressors.&quot; Perhaps he should think\u00c2\u00a0about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.&#039;\u00c2\u00a0Putin had still not once uttered the name &#039;Zelensky.&#039;&#039;You are the President of a world power,&#039; the interviewer\u00c2\u00a0fawned, &#039;and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country.\u00c2\u00a0Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture\u00c2\u00a0might completely change the course of world history. Why not\u00c2\u00a0simply arrange a meeting?&#039;Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and\u00c2\u00a0waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople\u00c2\u00a0had died down.&#039;Did I say &quot;no&quot;?&#039; replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added:&#039;Nobody has invited me.&#039;&#039;Are you prepared to meet with him?&#039;Putin now looked genuinely amused. &#039;Listen, I do not know\u00c2\u00a0this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell,\u00c2\u00a0he&#039;s amazing at what he does, he&#039;s a marvellous actor.&#039;Laughter and generous applause filled the room.Putin continued: &#039;But seriously: it&#039;s one thing to play a\u00c2\u00a0person, but quite another thing to be that person.&#039;\u00c2\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zelensky\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Action-packed biography of Ukraine&#039;s leaderMillions who have admired Volodymyr Zelensky&#039;s defiance during Russia&#039;s invasion of Ukraine will learn much from this up-to-date biography of the Ukrainian President. Zelensky&#039;s life to date has been packed with drama and action.By the age of 20, the Jewish boy from the provincial\u00c2\u00a0town 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&#039;s corrupt political and business\u00c2\u00a0elite in a TV drama where he played a history teacher who becomes President.\u00c2\u00a0Then he launched a real-life political party named after the TV show, won a landslide victory and became Ukraine&#039;s real President.When Russian troops flooded across the border, Zelensky refused Western offers to leave Kyiv. He has marshalled Ukraine&#039;s resistance\u00c2\u00a0and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons.He said: &#039;If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me.\u00c2\u00a0Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when\u00c2\u00a0I leave.&#039;Covering Zelensky&#039;s background and bustling TV career\u00c2\u00a0through to his first, controversial years in office to\u00c2\u00a0Russia&#039;s full-scale blitzkrieg, Zelensky\u00c2\u00a0is written by a long-standing Russia and Ukraine reporter and a Russian- and Ukrainian speaking researcher.It&#039;s a pithy biography of Zelensky for anyone who wants\u00c2\u00a0to understand Ukraine&#039;s charismatic head of state, his\u00c2\u00a0complex country, and its vexed relationship with Russia.Covering Zelensky&#039;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; his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry; and his breakthrough moment in\u00c2\u00a0the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher, Vasyl\u00c2\u00a0Holoborodko, who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption.The show becomes a reality and Zelensky and his party, called Servant of the People, take power. Zelensky&#039;s presidency is dogged by controversy concerning his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of tens of millions of dollars (used to buy luxury property in London). Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on\u00c2\u00a0powerful vested interests in Europe&#039;s second-largest country - before\u00c2\u00a0fighting a superpower in a fight most assume Ukraine will quickly lose (but they don&#039;t).Zelensky: Ukraine&#039;s President and His Country is the first major biography of Ukraine&#039;s leader written for a Western audience. Told with flair and authority, it is the gripping story of one\u00c2\u00a0of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.About the authorsSTEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the prestigious Dutch newspaper NRC. Together with Dolf de Groot he wrote Blood\u00c2\u00a0Brothers: The Downfall of Team Rabobank, which uncovered\u00c2\u00a0Michael Boogerd&#039;s doping fraud. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for\u00c2\u00a0NRC\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0De Standaard.EXTRACT: Start of first chapterVladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent.\u00c2\u00a0At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the\u00c2\u00a0meticulous art of profiling &#039;targets&#039; of the service, whether\u00c2\u00a0they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist\u00c2\u00a0apparatchiks.Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their\u00c2\u00a0strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United\u00c2\u00a0States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little\u00c2\u00a0finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian\u00c2\u00a0Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush\u00c2\u00a0told of how he had looked into the &#039;soul&#039; of the former KGB\u00c2\u00a0officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited\u00c2\u00a0Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black\u00c2\u00a0labrador Konni brought in. Merkel - who is terrified of\u00c2\u00a0dogs - dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the\u00c2\u00a0conversation.Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about\u00c2\u00a0people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political\u00c2\u00a0appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the\u00c2\u00a0name of the opposition leader to cross his lips - not even since\u00c2\u00a0Navalny&#039;s incarceration in January 2021. Putin&#039;s spokesperson,\u00c2\u00a0Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as &#039;that blogger.&#039;***In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth\u00c2\u00a0President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.One month later, the Russian President attended the World\u00c2\u00a0Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since\u00c2\u00a0Russia&#039;s annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between\u00c2\u00a0the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still\u00c2\u00a0commonplace in eastern Ukraine.&#039;Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he\u00c2\u00a0became President?&#039; asked the interviewer.Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business\u00c2\u00a0magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was\u00c2\u00a0going to be good.&#039;You know,&#039; said Putin, &#039;he is still pushing a certain rhetoric.\u00c2\u00a0He labels us &quot;enemies&quot; and &quot;aggressors.&quot; Perhaps he should think\u00c2\u00a0about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.&#039;\u00c2\u00a0Putin had still not once uttered the name &#039;Zelensky.&#039;&#039;You are the President of a world power,&#039; the interviewer\u00c2\u00a0fawned, &#039;and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country.\u00c2\u00a0Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture\u00c2\u00a0might completely change the course of world history. Why not\u00c2\u00a0simply arrange a meeting?&#039;Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and\u00c2\u00a0waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople\u00c2\u00a0had died down.&#039;Did I say &quot;no&quot;?&#039; replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added:&#039;Nobody has invited me.&#039;&#039;Are you prepared to meet with him?&#039;Putin now looked genuinely amused. &#039;Listen, I do not know\u00c2\u00a0this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell,\u00c2\u00a0he&#039;s amazing at what he does, he&#039;s a marvellous actor.&#039;Laughter and generous applause filled the room.Putin continued: &#039;But seriously: it&#039;s one thing to play a\u00c2\u00a0person, but quite another thing to be that person.&#039;\u00c2\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Archway Bookshop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ArchwayBookshop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-08T12:40:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-logo_512-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Archwaybookshop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/\",\"name\":\"Zelensky\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-04T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-08T12:40:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Action-packed biography of Ukraine's leaderMillions 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\u00c2\u00a0town 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\u00c2\u00a0elite in a TV drama where he played a history teacher who becomes President.\u00c2\u00a0Then 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\u00c2\u00a0and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons.He said: 'If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me.\u00c2\u00a0Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when\u00c2\u00a0I leave.'Covering Zelensky's background and bustling TV career\u00c2\u00a0through to his first, controversial years in office to\u00c2\u00a0Russia's full-scale blitzkrieg, Zelensky\u00c2\u00a0is 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\u00c2\u00a0to understand Ukraine's charismatic head of state, his\u00c2\u00a0complex 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; his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry; and his breakthrough moment in\u00c2\u00a0the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher, Vasyl\u00c2\u00a0Holoborodko, who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption.The show becomes a reality and Zelensky and his party, called Servant of the People, take power. Zelensky's presidency is dogged by controversy concerning his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of tens of millions of dollars (used to buy luxury property in London). Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on\u00c2\u00a0powerful vested interests in Europe's second-largest country - before\u00c2\u00a0fighting a superpower in a fight most assume Ukraine will quickly lose (but they don't).Zelensky: Ukraine's President and His Country 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\u00c2\u00a0of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.About the authorsSTEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the prestigious Dutch newspaper NRC. Together with Dolf de Groot he wrote Blood\u00c2\u00a0Brothers: The Downfall of Team Rabobank, which uncovered\u00c2\u00a0Michael Boogerd's doping fraud. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for\u00c2\u00a0NRC\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0De Standaard.EXTRACT: Start of first chapterVladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent.\u00c2\u00a0At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the\u00c2\u00a0meticulous art of profiling 'targets' of the service, whether\u00c2\u00a0they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist\u00c2\u00a0apparatchiks.Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their\u00c2\u00a0strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United\u00c2\u00a0States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little\u00c2\u00a0finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian\u00c2\u00a0Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush\u00c2\u00a0told of how he had looked into the 'soul' of the former KGB\u00c2\u00a0officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited\u00c2\u00a0Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black\u00c2\u00a0labrador Konni brought in. Merkel - who is terrified of\u00c2\u00a0dogs - dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the\u00c2\u00a0conversation.Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about\u00c2\u00a0people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political\u00c2\u00a0appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the\u00c2\u00a0name of the opposition leader to cross his lips - not even since\u00c2\u00a0Navalny's incarceration in January 2021. Putin's spokesperson,\u00c2\u00a0Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as 'that blogger.'***In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth\u00c2\u00a0President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.One month later, the Russian President attended the World\u00c2\u00a0Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since\u00c2\u00a0Russia's annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between\u00c2\u00a0the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still\u00c2\u00a0commonplace in eastern Ukraine.'Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he\u00c2\u00a0became President?' asked the interviewer.Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business\u00c2\u00a0magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was\u00c2\u00a0going to be good.'You know,' said Putin, 'he is still pushing a certain rhetoric.\u00c2\u00a0He labels us \\\"enemies\\\" and \\\"aggressors.\\\" Perhaps he should think\u00c2\u00a0about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.'\u00c2\u00a0Putin had still not once uttered the name 'Zelensky.''You are the President of a world power,' the interviewer\u00c2\u00a0fawned, 'and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country.\u00c2\u00a0Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture\u00c2\u00a0might completely change the course of world history. Why not\u00c2\u00a0simply arrange a meeting?'Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and\u00c2\u00a0waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople\u00c2\u00a0had died down.'Did I say \\\"no\\\"?' replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added:'Nobody has invited me.''Are you prepared to meet with him?'Putin now looked genuinely amused. 'Listen, I do not know\u00c2\u00a0this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell,\u00c2\u00a0he's amazing at what he does, he's a marvellous actor.'Laughter and generous applause filled the room.Putin continued: 'But seriously: it's one thing to play a\u00c2\u00a0person, but quite another thing to be that person.'\u00c2\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Buy Books\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/buy-books\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Biography Hardback\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/product-category\/biography-hb\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Zelensky\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Archway Bookshop\",\"description\":\"Axminster&#039;s Beautiful Bookshop\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Archway Bookshop\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-cropped-logo_512-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-cropped-logo_512-1.png\",\"width\":454,\"height\":368,\"caption\":\"Archway Bookshop\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ArchwayBookshop\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Archwaybookshop\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/archwaybookshop\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zelensky","description":"Action-packed biography of Ukraine's leaderMillions 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\u00c2\u00a0town 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\u00c2\u00a0elite in a TV drama where he played a history teacher who becomes President.\u00c2\u00a0Then 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\u00c2\u00a0and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons.He said: 'If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me.\u00c2\u00a0Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when\u00c2\u00a0I leave.'Covering Zelensky's background and bustling TV career\u00c2\u00a0through to his first, controversial years in office to\u00c2\u00a0Russia's full-scale blitzkrieg, Zelensky\u00c2\u00a0is 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\u00c2\u00a0to understand Ukraine's charismatic head of state, his\u00c2\u00a0complex 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; his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry; and his breakthrough moment in\u00c2\u00a0the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher, Vasyl\u00c2\u00a0Holoborodko, who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption.The show becomes a reality and Zelensky and his party, called Servant of the People, take power. Zelensky's presidency is dogged by controversy concerning his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of tens of millions of dollars (used to buy luxury property in London). Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on\u00c2\u00a0powerful vested interests in Europe's second-largest country - before\u00c2\u00a0fighting a superpower in a fight most assume Ukraine will quickly lose (but they don't).Zelensky: Ukraine's President and His Country 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\u00c2\u00a0of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.About the authorsSTEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the prestigious Dutch newspaper NRC. Together with Dolf de Groot he wrote Blood\u00c2\u00a0Brothers: The Downfall of Team Rabobank, which uncovered\u00c2\u00a0Michael Boogerd's doping fraud. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for\u00c2\u00a0NRC\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0De Standaard.EXTRACT: Start of first chapterVladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent.\u00c2\u00a0At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the\u00c2\u00a0meticulous art of profiling 'targets' of the service, whether\u00c2\u00a0they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist\u00c2\u00a0apparatchiks.Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their\u00c2\u00a0strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United\u00c2\u00a0States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little\u00c2\u00a0finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian\u00c2\u00a0Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush\u00c2\u00a0told of how he had looked into the 'soul' of the former KGB\u00c2\u00a0officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited\u00c2\u00a0Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black\u00c2\u00a0labrador Konni brought in. Merkel - who is terrified of\u00c2\u00a0dogs - dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the\u00c2\u00a0conversation.Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about\u00c2\u00a0people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political\u00c2\u00a0appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the\u00c2\u00a0name of the opposition leader to cross his lips - not even since\u00c2\u00a0Navalny's incarceration in January 2021. Putin's spokesperson,\u00c2\u00a0Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as 'that blogger.'***In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth\u00c2\u00a0President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.One month later, the Russian President attended the World\u00c2\u00a0Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since\u00c2\u00a0Russia's annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between\u00c2\u00a0the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still\u00c2\u00a0commonplace in eastern Ukraine.'Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he\u00c2\u00a0became President?' asked the interviewer.Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business\u00c2\u00a0magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was\u00c2\u00a0going to be good.'You know,' said Putin, 'he is still pushing a certain rhetoric.\u00c2\u00a0He labels us \"enemies\" and \"aggressors.\" Perhaps he should think\u00c2\u00a0about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.'\u00c2\u00a0Putin had still not once uttered the name 'Zelensky.''You are the President of a world power,' the interviewer\u00c2\u00a0fawned, 'and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country.\u00c2\u00a0Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture\u00c2\u00a0might completely change the course of world history. Why not\u00c2\u00a0simply arrange a meeting?'Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and\u00c2\u00a0waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople\u00c2\u00a0had died down.'Did I say \"no\"?' replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added:'Nobody has invited me.''Are you prepared to meet with him?'Putin now looked genuinely amused. 'Listen, I do not know\u00c2\u00a0this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell,\u00c2\u00a0he's amazing at what he does, he's a marvellous actor.'Laughter and generous applause filled the room.Putin continued: 'But seriously: it's one thing to play a\u00c2\u00a0person, but quite another thing to be that person.'\u00c2\u00a0","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zelensky","og_description":"Action-packed biography of Ukraine's leaderMillions 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\u00c2\u00a0town 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\u00c2\u00a0elite in a TV drama where he played a history teacher who becomes President.\u00c2\u00a0Then 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\u00c2\u00a0and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons.He said: 'If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me.\u00c2\u00a0Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when\u00c2\u00a0I leave.'Covering Zelensky's background and bustling TV career\u00c2\u00a0through to his first, controversial years in office to\u00c2\u00a0Russia's full-scale blitzkrieg, Zelensky\u00c2\u00a0is 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\u00c2\u00a0to understand Ukraine's charismatic head of state, his\u00c2\u00a0complex 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; his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry; and his breakthrough moment in\u00c2\u00a0the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher, Vasyl\u00c2\u00a0Holoborodko, who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption.The show becomes a reality and Zelensky and his party, called Servant of the People, take power. Zelensky's presidency is dogged by controversy concerning his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of tens of millions of dollars (used to buy luxury property in London). Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on\u00c2\u00a0powerful vested interests in Europe's second-largest country - before\u00c2\u00a0fighting a superpower in a fight most assume Ukraine will quickly lose (but they don't).Zelensky: Ukraine's President and His Country 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\u00c2\u00a0of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.About the authorsSTEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the prestigious Dutch newspaper NRC. Together with Dolf de Groot he wrote Blood\u00c2\u00a0Brothers: The Downfall of Team Rabobank, which uncovered\u00c2\u00a0Michael Boogerd's doping fraud. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for\u00c2\u00a0NRC\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0De Standaard.EXTRACT: Start of first chapterVladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent.\u00c2\u00a0At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the\u00c2\u00a0meticulous art of profiling 'targets' of the service, whether\u00c2\u00a0they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist\u00c2\u00a0apparatchiks.Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their\u00c2\u00a0strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United\u00c2\u00a0States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little\u00c2\u00a0finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian\u00c2\u00a0Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush\u00c2\u00a0told of how he had looked into the 'soul' of the former KGB\u00c2\u00a0officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited\u00c2\u00a0Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black\u00c2\u00a0labrador Konni brought in. Merkel - who is terrified of\u00c2\u00a0dogs - dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the\u00c2\u00a0conversation.Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about\u00c2\u00a0people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political\u00c2\u00a0appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the\u00c2\u00a0name of the opposition leader to cross his lips - not even since\u00c2\u00a0Navalny's incarceration in January 2021. Putin's spokesperson,\u00c2\u00a0Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as 'that blogger.'***In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth\u00c2\u00a0President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.One month later, the Russian President attended the World\u00c2\u00a0Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since\u00c2\u00a0Russia's annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between\u00c2\u00a0the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still\u00c2\u00a0commonplace in eastern Ukraine.'Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he\u00c2\u00a0became President?' asked the interviewer.Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business\u00c2\u00a0magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was\u00c2\u00a0going to be good.'You know,' said Putin, 'he is still pushing a certain rhetoric.\u00c2\u00a0He labels us \"enemies\" and \"aggressors.\" Perhaps he should think\u00c2\u00a0about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.'\u00c2\u00a0Putin had still not once uttered the name 'Zelensky.''You are the President of a world power,' the interviewer\u00c2\u00a0fawned, 'and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country.\u00c2\u00a0Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture\u00c2\u00a0might completely change the course of world history. Why not\u00c2\u00a0simply arrange a meeting?'Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and\u00c2\u00a0waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople\u00c2\u00a0had died down.'Did I say \"no\"?' replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added:'Nobody has invited me.''Are you prepared to meet with him?'Putin now looked genuinely amused. 'Listen, I do not know\u00c2\u00a0this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell,\u00c2\u00a0he's amazing at what he does, he's a marvellous actor.'Laughter and generous applause filled the room.Putin continued: 'But seriously: it's one thing to play a\u00c2\u00a0person, but quite another thing to be that person.'\u00c2\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/","og_site_name":"Archway Bookshop","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ArchwayBookshop\/","article_modified_time":"2023-02-08T12:40:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-logo_512-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Archwaybookshop","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/","name":"Zelensky","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-08-04T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-08T12:40:12+00:00","description":"Action-packed biography of Ukraine's leaderMillions 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\u00c2\u00a0town 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\u00c2\u00a0elite in a TV drama where he played a history teacher who becomes President.\u00c2\u00a0Then 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\u00c2\u00a0and successfully obtained Western missile systems and anti-tank weapons.He said: 'If I am elected, they will first sling mud at me.\u00c2\u00a0Then they will learn to respect me. And finally cry when\u00c2\u00a0I leave.'Covering Zelensky's background and bustling TV career\u00c2\u00a0through to his first, controversial years in office to\u00c2\u00a0Russia's full-scale blitzkrieg, Zelensky\u00c2\u00a0is 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\u00c2\u00a0to understand Ukraine's charismatic head of state, his\u00c2\u00a0complex 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; his rise through the Ukrainian and Russian television industry; and his breakthrough moment in\u00c2\u00a0the TV series Servant of the People playing a teacher, Vasyl\u00c2\u00a0Holoborodko, who dreams of reforming Ukraine and ending its corruption.The show becomes a reality and Zelensky and his party, called Servant of the People, take power. Zelensky's presidency is dogged by controversy concerning his attempts to curry favour with the US President Donald Trump and the offshoring of tens of millions of dollars (used to buy luxury property in London). Zelensky battles political rivals and takes on\u00c2\u00a0powerful vested interests in Europe's second-largest country - before\u00c2\u00a0fighting a superpower in a fight most assume Ukraine will quickly lose (but they don't).Zelensky: Ukraine's President and His Country 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\u00c2\u00a0of the most admired and inspirational leaders in the world.About the authorsSTEVEN DERIX is a journalist at the prestigious Dutch newspaper NRC. Together with Dolf de Groot he wrote Blood\u00c2\u00a0Brothers: The Downfall of Team Rabobank, which uncovered\u00c2\u00a0Michael Boogerd's doping fraud. From 2014 to 2020 he was NRC correspondent for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.MARINA SHELKUNOVA studied journalism and was a researcher and coordinator for\u00c2\u00a0NRC\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0De Standaard.EXTRACT: Start of first chapterVladimir Putin rarely underestimates his opponent.\u00c2\u00a0At the KGB Academy in Leningrad, he learned the\u00c2\u00a0meticulous art of profiling 'targets' of the service, whether\u00c2\u00a0they were Russian dissidents or East German Communist\u00c2\u00a0apparatchiks.Before meeting with anybody, Putin first analyses their\u00c2\u00a0strengths and weaknesses. During his first visit to the United\u00c2\u00a0States, he wound President George W. Bush around his little\u00c2\u00a0finger, with pious tales of his christening in the Russian\u00c2\u00a0Orthodox Church. Afterwards, an obviously charmed Bush\u00c2\u00a0told of how he had looked into the 'soul' of the former KGB\u00c2\u00a0officer. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited\u00c2\u00a0Sochi in 2007 to discuss energy policy, Putin had his black\u00c2\u00a0labrador Konni brought in. Merkel - who is terrified of\u00c2\u00a0dogs - dared not budge an inch, and Putin dominated the\u00c2\u00a0conversation.Vladimir Putin also carefully considers way he talks about\u00c2\u00a0people. The Russian President is only too aware of the political\u00c2\u00a0appeal of Alexey Navalny, and will therefore never allow the\u00c2\u00a0name of the opposition leader to cross his lips - not even since\u00c2\u00a0Navalny's incarceration in January 2021. Putin's spokesperson,\u00c2\u00a0Dmitri Peskov, consistently refers to Navalny as 'that blogger.'***In April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as the sixth\u00c2\u00a0President of Ukraine, with nearly three-quarters of the vote.One month later, the Russian President attended the World\u00c2\u00a0Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. It had been five years since\u00c2\u00a0Russia's annexation of Crimea but daily skirmishes between\u00c2\u00a0the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists were still\u00c2\u00a0commonplace in eastern Ukraine.'Why did you not congratulate Volodymyr Zelenksy when he\u00c2\u00a0became President?' asked the interviewer.Putin breathed a heavy sigh. The Russian officials and business\u00c2\u00a0magnates in the room playfully nudged one another: this was\u00c2\u00a0going to be good.'You know,' said Putin, 'he is still pushing a certain rhetoric.\u00c2\u00a0He labels us \"enemies\" and \"aggressors.\" Perhaps he should think\u00c2\u00a0about what he really wants to achieve, what he wants to do.'\u00c2\u00a0Putin had still not once uttered the name 'Zelensky.''You are the President of a world power,' the interviewer\u00c2\u00a0fawned, 'and right now, he is incredibly popular in his country.\u00c2\u00a0Both of you could start with a clean slate. Even a small gesture\u00c2\u00a0might completely change the course of world history. Why not\u00c2\u00a0simply arrange a meeting?'Putin gave the enormous hall an almost pitying look, and\u00c2\u00a0waited until the sniggering from the officials and businesspeople\u00c2\u00a0had died down.'Did I say \"no\"?' replied Putin. With a snide grin, he added:'Nobody has invited me.''Are you prepared to meet with him?'Putin now looked genuinely amused. 'Listen, I do not know\u00c2\u00a0this man. I hope that we can meet one day. As far as I can tell,\u00c2\u00a0he's amazing at what he does, he's a marvellous actor.'Laughter and generous applause filled the room.Putin continued: 'But seriously: it's one thing to play a\u00c2\u00a0person, but quite another thing to be that person.'\u00c2\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/product\/9781912454778\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Buy Books","item":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/buy-books\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Biography Hardback","item":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/product-category\/biography-hb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Zelensky"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/","name":"Archway Bookshop","description":"Axminster&#039;s Beautiful Bookshop","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#organization","name":"Archway Bookshop","url":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-cropped-logo_512-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cropped-cropped-logo_512-1.png","width":454,"height":368,"caption":"Archway Bookshop"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ArchwayBookshop\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Archwaybookshop","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/archwaybookshop\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/94801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=94801"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=94801"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.archwaybookshop.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=94801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}