The Showman: Volodymyr Zelensky and the War in Ukraine

Time correspondent Simon Shuster chronicles the life & leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky from the dressing rooms of his variety shows to the muddy trenches of Ukraine’s war with Russia. Based on 4 years of reporting; extensive travels with President Zelensky to the front; & dozens of interviews with him, his wife, his friends & enemies, his advisers, ministers & military commanders, Shuster tells the intimate & revealing story of the president’s evolution from a slapstick actor to a symbol of resilience.In their most candid accounts of the war so far, members of Zelensky’s inner circle show how the president’s character changed under the strains of leadership & the horrors he witnessed each day. His wife, First Lady Olena Zelenska, describes her escape from Kyiv with their children, her life on the run, & the tensions that emerged in her marriage as she struggled to return to a meaningful role in the administration. Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, shares the untold story of his fraught relationship with the president & the subsequent consequences.Reflecting on their own regrets & critical decisions, Zelensky & his senior aides open up about the causes of the Russian invasion & how it may have been avoided. They describe with astonishing frankness how their peace talks with Vladimir Putin fell apart & how their faith in the U.S. faltered, both under Donald Trump & Joe Biden.The Showman provides the first inside account of Zelensky’s life amid the invasion, offering a clear-eyed view of his failures to prepare for it and his willingness to silence dissent under martial law. What emerges is a complex picture of a man struggling to break what he sees as a historical cycle of oppression that began generations before he was born. Even as the war drags on, Zelensky lays out his vision for its future course &, through his actions, demonstrates his strategy for countering the Russians & 'This book offers a front row seat to history as it is being made' ANNE APPLEBAUM 'This is the Zelensky book we've been waiting for' CATHERINE BELTON 'An elegant account of the invasion's first year as seen by those in the very eye of the storm' DAILY TELEGRAPH TIMES: A BEST BOOK OF 2024 – NEXT YEAR'S TOP READS GUARDIAN: BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024 INDEPENDENT: A BOOK OF THE MONTH WATERSTONES: JANUARY'S BEST BOOKS WRITTEN WITH UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS, THIS IS THE FIRST INSIDE, INTIMATE ACCOUNT OF THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PRESIDENT ZELENSKY AND HIS TEAM. Based on four years of reporting; extensive travels with President Zelensky to the front; and dozens of interviews with him, his wife, his friends and enemies, his advisers, ministers and military commanders, The Showman tells an intimate and eye-opening story of the President's evolution from a slapstick actor to a symbol of resilience, revealing how he managed to rally the world's democracies behind his cause. Clear-eyed about the President's early failures as a peacemaker and his willingness to silence political dissent, the book offers a complex picture of a man struggling to break what he sees as a historical cycle of oppression that began generations before he was born. Even as the war drags on, Zelensky lays out his vision for its future course and, through his actions, demonstrates his strategy for countering the Russians and keeping the West on his side. The result is a riveting, up-close picture of the invasion as experienced by its number one target and improbable hero. The Showman, as a work of eyewitness journalism, provides an essential perspective on the war defining our age. As a study in leadership and human resolve, its appeal is timeless and universal. Time correspondent Simon Shuster delivers the definitive account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, written and reported from inside the presidential compound in Kyiv, based on Shuster's unparalleled access to President Zelensky and his top aides....M.F