Today President Zelensky made a surprise visit to Britain, so I’ve decided to post today about the books I plan to read about Ukraine, written by Ukrainians, photographed on the Ukrainian and British flags. I keep these two flags in our conservatory. The Ukrainian one is from a march I’ve been to, last year in March, in support of Ukraine. The British flag is from last year too, from the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, when we went to London for the procession.
The books are:
The Fight of Our Lives by Iuliia Mendel, with the subtitle: My Time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s Battle for Democracy, and What It Means for the World. Iuliia Mendel is a Ukrainian journalist and political advisor. She was the press secretary in the administration of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy from 2019 to 2021.
A Message from Ukraine by Volodymyr Zelensky. This is a collection of some of his war speeches. It’s special that we can read a book by a President, during wartime. I am looking forward to reading it.
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy. Plokhy is a historian, currently the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History and Director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. A leading authority on Eastern Europe, he has lived and taught in Ukraine, Canada, and the United States. For three successive years (2002-2005) his books won first prize of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies.
During my commute from London, on the train, the lady in front of me was reading the book and I asked her about it. She said she is really enjoying it even though she is not reading history books in general.
Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe by Serhii Plokhy Another book by Plokhy. After watching a movie on Chernobyl I decided to buy the book. I didn’t have the change of reading it so far, but I am looking forward to reading it.
Are you familiar with these books? If not. I hope you’ll consider getting at least one, from the library if that’s more convenient.
Slava Ukraini!
These sound like really interesting books. I haven’t head of any of these books but the The Fight of Our Lives by Iuliia Mendel sounds a good read to understand more about what’s going on. x
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I look forward to your reviews, especially the one on Chernobyl.
I was pleased to see such friendly handshaking going on with the King in our news reports. It wasn’t the same as the deference and protocol that always took place with the Queen. (not that I’m saying that was a bad thing)
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The King is less keen on protocol, that’s true and I think that’s great. The monarchy changes with time and that’s a good thing.
The King was also very interested in the events in Ukraine, there are refugees housed by him, when he was Prince of Wales, he talked with refugees many times too, at different locations and events.
I can’t wait to start reading them. I am very busy these days as I need to focus on 4 different assignments, but soon I will have more time to dedicate to non-uni related books.