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War and Punishment
The Story of Russian Oppression and Ukrainian Resistance
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War and Punishment
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See moreFrom heroic dissident journalist Mikhail Zygar, a journey into the myths and fantasies that led Russia to violence in Ukraine
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
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Description
'History is made up of myths,' writes the renowned Russian dissident journalist Mikhail Zygar. 'Alas, our myths led us to the fascism of 2022. It is time to expose them.' Drawing from his perilous career investigating the frontiers of the Russian empire, Zygar reveals how 350 years of propaganda, bad historical scholarship, folk tales and fantasy spurred his nation into war with Ukraine.
How did a German monk's fear of the Ottoman Empire drive him to invent the fiction of a united Russian world? How did corny spy novels about a 'Soviet James Bond' inspire Vladimir Putin to join the KGB? How did Alexander Pushkin's admiration for a poem by Lord Byron end with him slandering the legendary chief of the Cossacks? And how did Putin underestimate a rising TV comic named Volodymyr Zelensky, failing to see that his satire had become deadly serious, and that his country would be a joke no longer?
A noted expert on the Kremlin with unparalleled access to hundreds of players in the current conflict - from politicians to oligarchs, gangsters to comedians (not least Zelensky himself) - Zygar chronicles the power struggles from which today's politics grew, and digs out the essential truths from behind layers of seductive legend. By surveying the strange, complex record of Russo-Ukrainian relations, War and Punishment reveals exactly how the largest nation on Earth lost its senses. A work of history can't undo the past or transform the present, but sometimes it can shape the future.
In fact, that's how the story begins.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The book, War and Punishment by Mikhail Zygar, has been praised for its superb account of the factors leading to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, offering a deep, informed understanding of the contemporary situation. Critics commend its haunting narrative of anti-Ukrainian persecution and the persistent "imperial mindset" contributing to ongoing conflict. The book is noted for cleverly intertwining the story of Ukraine's independence with an honest appraisal of its challenges, including the career of Volodymyr Zelensky. Zygar's work is described as passionate, perceptive, and an urgent call for change, providing a searing and compelling chronicle of Russian and Ukrainian relations.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781398714021
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 13 July 2023
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 36.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 520g
Pages: 432
About the Author
Mikhail Zygar is a journalist and filmmaker, and the founding editor-in-chief of Dozhd, Russia's last independent TV news channel. He is also the author of a number of books, including All the Kremlin's Men (2017), a critical portrait of Putin's inner circle that was a number-one bestseller in Russia. In 2014 he received the International Press Freedom Award. As soon as the invasion of Ukraine began, Zygar wrote a public condemnation that was signed by hundreds of his cultural and journalistic contacts and then by thousands of ordinary citizens. A new law criminalizing criticism of the war swiftly followed, and Zygar went into exile.
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