Our Book of the Month choice for June

The SSL ‘Book of the Month’ feature highlights a book in our collection. This may be a recent addition to our stock or an existing item that we would like to share with you.

June’s Book of the month is:

Місяць війни. Хроніка подій. Промови та звернення Президента України Володимира Зеленського

Misi͡at͡sʹ viĭny : Khronika podiĭ : Promovy ta zvernenni͡a prezydenta Ukraïny Volodymyra Zelensʹkoho

The Month of War: A Chronicle of Events: Speeches and Announcements by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy

 

Compiled by Oleksandr Krasovyt͡sʹkyĭ and V.M. Voronin.

Kharkiv: Folio, 2022

This title is available to request from the Bodleian Closed Stacks and can be taken out on loan from the library.

 

 

 

It was chosen because it offers a blow-by-blow account of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, interspersed with President Zelenskyy’s daily speeches and announcements. Readers can use this book to chart the invasion as it unfolded, along with the international response.

Book Overview

Misiats’ Viiny sets out the main events of each day from the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, until 24 March 2022. It is in fact the first book in an ongoing series, which continues to present a day-by-day chronicle of each month’s events. The Bodleian is collecting the consequent editions of this series, either as print books, or as ebooks on East View’s ebook platform. Each daily account includes the day’s speeches and announcements from Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The book’s main compiler, Oleksandr Krasovits’kyi, is one of Ukraine’s leading publishers, editors and writers. He seems to have been working with President Zelenskyy’s office, which is one of the Copyright owners. Hence, as we might expect, the book strongly supports Zelenskyy, and his decisions. This does not mean that the book presents an inaccurate account: instead, we see how Zelenskyy and his office worked to frame events as they unfolded. The book series is itself part of the Ukrainian government’s effort to establish a narrative of the war, in part to combat the flagrant misinformation issued by Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine.

Misiats’ Viiny and the subsequent editions of the series are an important reminder of the sheer violence of Russian aggression in Ukraine, and its senselessness. Zelenskyy’s speeches demonstrate the close historical connections between Russia and Ukraine, and their peoples. For example, he switched into Russian during his address to the population immediately after the first attacks, to call on the Russian population to demonstrate their opposition to the war. This speech also starts with a reference to Ukraine and Russia’s shared Soviet history, before asserting Ukraine’s right to move forward on its own, independent path: he insists that the Iron Curtain will fall on Russia’s border, rather than encompassing Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s speeches also reveal the complex international response to the invasion, as it slowly shifted into an acknowledgement that the Putin administration has to be fought, rather than placated. Many of these speeches were addressed to international leaders; for example, we read Zelenskyy’s speech to the UK’s Parliament on March 8. His words reflect the mix of support and scepticism Ukraine has met since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Meanwhile the ongoing series reminds us and the international community at large that Russian terrorism in Ukraine is continuing: a shopping centre in Kharkiv was bombed on May 25, for example. The world cannot afford to forget the threat, violence and tragedy of Russian terrorism.

How can I access it?

This title is available to request from the Bodleian Closed Stacks and can be taken out on loan from the library.

Image of an open book with the pages curled to form a love heartWhat would your SSL Book of the Month be? Do you have a favourite book in our collection? If so, we would love to know what it is. Add a comment below or email us.

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