PUTIN VS. ZELENSKY

History writer Thompson’s valuable primer delves into the intertwined histories of Russia and Ukraine leading up to the current war.

On February 24, 2022, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine at the direction of President Vladimir Putin, an ex-KGB agent. By the next day, missile strikes were reported throughout Ukraine as troops clambered to defensive positions and residents fled to safety. On the other side of the conflict was actor-turned-politician Volodymyr Zelensky, who assured his countryfolk that “We are all defending our independence.” This book begins in the early 20th century with the lead-up to the fall of the Russian Empire, as contextualized through the Putin and Zelensky families’ experiences. Thompson helps readers understand the roots of the present conflict by showing how Russia emphasizes the countries’ shared pasts while Ukraine battles for its unique cultural and linguistic identity. This well-researched book is full of interesting information, such as the fact that both Zelensky and Putin have law degrees but neither practiced law because they “both hated it.” The writing is mostly conversational (former Ukraine president Viktor Yushchenko “made it so that you could buy a loaf of bread and a carton of milk at the grocery store without having to auction off a vital organ to pay for it”) but may still be too dense to capture readers’ attention. Occasional photos interrupt the otherwise text-heavy pages, which would have benefited from being broken up by design elements.

A highly detailed account for history buffs.