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Bezig met laden... A Message from Ukraine: Speeches, 2019-2022door Volodymyr Zelensky
   Geen Bezig met laden...
 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  scottjpearson | Jan 26, 2023 | 
 ... Like the veteran of television scripts that he is, Zelenskiy knows the power of a story. The career of Vasyl Slipak, a soloist at the Paris Opera, cut short while he was fighting to defend Donbas, is a parable for the wider struggle. He also has the gift of speaking in pictures. "The most terrible steel," he says on Ukrainian Independence Day, "is not within missiles, aircrafts and tanks but in shackles." And neither will I soon forget the earrings ripped from Ukrainian women as a prelude to their being strangled. But none of these skills would be worth employing if they were lavished on trivial material. Zelenskiy, sad to say, has material that people have to die for. The contents page of this volume is a catalogue of rhetorical categories. Our Fight, Our Voice, Our Nation. All conflicts are simultaneously wars of communication and Zelenskiy tells the hard truths that war like no other circumstance permits. When he travels abroad, or at least when his virtual avatar does by video link, he is quite prepared to talk straight. At the Munich security conference in February 2022, for example, he is unsparing about the foreign policy failures of the EU. At home, Zelenskiy recalls Churchill in 1940, reporting the facts to the people, candidly but with determination intact. ... The substantive question raised by these speeches is, of course, whether Zelenskiy is right. He claims that "a bloody reconstruction of nazism has taken place in Ukraine". At the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, he tells the tales of four brothers, three of whom were shot by the Germans. The last man standing was his grandfather. It's powerful, persuasive and irresistible – but is Putin really as bad as Hitler? It's a reminder, if we needed it, that rhetoric always needs watching. And yet in the end I yield to the words of the man who was once the voice of Paddington Bear and who is now the tribune of freedom. John Adams once said that the American nation was talked into being. Zelenskiy is the voice of Ukraine and, as he might say himself, our voice too.
The words of a man. The message of a people. Bringing together a new introduction by Volodymyr Zelensky with his most powerful war speeches, this book recounts Ukraine's story through the words of its president. It is the story of a nation valiantly defending itself from Russian aggression. And it is the story of a people leading the world in the struggle for democracy. Above all, it is a battle cry for us all to stand up and fight for liberty. If not now, when? The only book officially authorized by President Zelensky, A Message from Ukraine includes speeches he has personally selected to tell the story of the Ukrainian people. -- Provided by publisher. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)947.7086History and Geography Europe Russia and eastern Europe [and formerly Finland] UkraineLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (4.73)
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The book separates Zelensky’s speeches into four groups: (1) Speeches after the Ukrainian revolution that brought him to power but before the full-scale Russian invasion, (2) those around the wide-scale invasion of February 24 (3) those related to international coalition building and (4) those during the first six months of full-blown war. He tries to make several cases at once. First, Ukrainians are involved in a noble war, not of their choosing. Second, in ideology and outlook, Ukrainians are more like Europeans and less like the Russian state. Third, Ukrainians are determined to recapture their territory. Finally, the Ukrainian people, even those from the Russian-speaking east, are united against the Russian state’s imperialism.
When war first broke out, Western countries offered Zelensky a safe home, but Zelensky refused by pointedly saying, “I need ammo, not a ride.” This blunt, engaged leadership style was and is admired all over the world. In an era where politicians in democracies can seem more interested in power than virtue, he reminds us all of the stakes of a democracy – namely, human freedom. These inspirational and idealistic addresses seek to evoke the most out of humanity. Again, that’s why they’ll be studied all over the world for generations.
In case you need more of a reason to buy this book, Zelensky’s portion of the proceeds will go towards Ukrainian efforts, not his own coffers. His intended audience is simply the democratic and freedom-loving world. An actor by profession, he leads with plain but eloquent words but with a wide range of allusions from world history. He shares a deep appreciation of the human condition and portrays no sense of entitlement. Frankly, western politicians and their political classes need to learn from him. Ukraine has certainly stirred my soul in the last year, and this book distills that in brief form. Your heart will be richer for having read it. (