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The Fight of Our Lives
- My Time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine's Battle for Democracy, and What It Means for the World
- Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya, Iuliia Mendel
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
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Publisher's summary
“Moving.”—The Washington Post
When Ukrainian journalist Iuliia Mendel got the call she had been hired to work for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she had no idea what was to come.
In this frank and moving inside account, Zelenskyy’s former press secretary tells the story of his improbable rise from popular comedian to the president of Ukraine. Mendel had a front row seat to many of the key events preceding the 2022 Russian invasion. From attending meetings between Zelenskyy and Putin and other European leaders, visiting the front lines in Donbas, to fielding press inquiries after the infamous phone calls between Donald Trump and Zelenskyy that led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Mendel saw firsthand Zelenskyy’s efforts to transform his country from a poor, backward Soviet state into a vibrant, prosperous European democracy. Mendel sheds light on the massive economic problems facing Ukraine and the entrenched corrupt oligarchs in league with Russia. She witnessed the Kremlin’s repeated attacks to discredit Zelenskyy through disinformation and an army of bots and trolls.
Woven into her account are details about her own life as a member of Zelenskyy’s new Ukraine. Written with the sound of Russian bombs and exploding shells in the background, Mendel details life lived under Russian siege in 2022. She says goodbye to her fiancé who joins the front lines, like so many other Ukrainian men. Throughout this story of Zelenskyy, Ukraine, and its extraordinary people, Iuliia Mendel reminds us of the paramount importance of truth and human values, especially in these darkest of times.
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Critic reviews
"Jennifer Jill Araya’s narration bubbles over with the author’s enthusiasm for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mendel is the president’s former press secretary. Araya adds a soupçon of her anger toward Zelensky’s rivals to the discussion of Ukraine’s political environment before the recent war. When Mendel turns to the current invasion by Russia, mostly in the last chapter, Araya goes full throttle in expressing her outrage over the Mariupol bombings and the West’s reluctance to help Ukraine defend itself. With Araya stressing key points, Mendel discusses the use of social media and “fake news” to spread falsehoods. The audiobook opens with a timeline of events leading up to the invasion and an introduction from Mendel."—AudioFile Magazine
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In this rich, fascinating history, John Ghazvinian traces the complex story of the relations between these two nations back to the Persian Empire of the 18th century - the subject of great admiration by Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams - and an America seen by Iranians as an ideal to emulate for their own government.
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Distortions Galore
- By Chuck S. on 03-15-21
By: John Ghazvinian
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The Russia Conundrum
- How the West Fell for Putin's Power Gambit—and How to Fix It
- By: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Martin Sixsmith - contributor
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Mikhail Khodorkovsky has seen behind the mask of Vladimir Putin. Once an oil tycoon and the richest man in Russia, Khodorkovsky spoke out against the corruption of Putin's regime—and was punished by the Kremlin, stripped of his entire wealth and jailed for over ten years. Now freed, working as a pro-democracy campaigner in enforced exile, Khodorkovsky brings us the insider's battle to save his country's soul. Offering an urgent analysis of what has gone wrong with Putin, The Russia Conundrum maps the country's rise and fall against Khodorkovsky's own journey.
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This should be required reading!
- By Jasmine J. on 10-29-22
By: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and others
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The Education of an Idealist
- A Memoir
- By: Samantha Power
- Narrated by: Samantha Power
- Length: 21 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In her memoir, Power offers an urgent response to the question "What can one person do?" and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. The Education of an Idealist traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official. In 2005, her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign.
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Sam's Power: Privilege in U.S. Politics
- By RelizzScholar27 on 11-09-19
By: Samantha Power
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Winter Is Coming
- Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
- By: Garry Kasparov
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The ascension of Vladimir Putin - a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB - to the presidency of Russia in 1999 should have been a signal that the country was headed away from democracy. Yet in the intervening years - as America and the world's other leading powers have continued to appease him - Putin has grown into not only a dictator but a global threat. With his vast resources and nuclear weapons, Putin is at the center of a worldwide assault on political liberty.
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A polemic against Putin
- By David on 05-27-16
By: Garry Kasparov
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The Invention of Russia
- From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War
- By: Arkady Ostrovsky
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The end of Communism and breakup of the Soviet Union was a time of euphoria around the world, but Russia today is violently anti-American and dangerously nationalistic. So how did we go from the promise of those days to the autocratic police state of Putin's new Russia? The Invention of Russia reaches back to the darkest days of the Cold War to tell the story of the fight for the soul of a nation.
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Sad Story of Russia's Abandonment of Liberalism
- By Amazon Customer on 10-03-16
By: Arkady Ostrovsky
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Democracy
- Stories from the Long Road to Freedom
- By: Condoleezza Rice
- Narrated by: Grace Angela Henry
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union to the ongoing struggle for human rights in the Middle East, Condoleezza Rice has served on the front lines of history. As a child, she was an eyewitness to a third awakening of freedom, when her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, became the epicenter of the civil rights movement for black Americans. In this book, Rice explains what these epochal events teach us about democracy.
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A Case for Democracy
- By Jean on 05-18-17
By: Condoleezza Rice
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The Jakarta Method
- Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World
- By: Vincent Bevins
- Narrated by: Tim Paige
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1965, the US government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians. This was one of the most important turning points of the 20th century, eliminating the largest communist party outside China and the Soviet Union and inspiring copycat terror programs in faraway countries like Brazil and Chile. But these events remain widely overlooked, precisely because the CIA's secret interventions were so successful.
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Great book, but the narration has serious flaws
- By Prof. Neil Larsen on 08-03-20
By: Vincent Bevins
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Between Two Fires
- Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia
- By: Joshua Yaffa
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In this rich and novelistic tour of contemporary Russia, Joshua Yaffa introduces listeners to some of the country’s most remarkable figures - from politicians and entrepreneurs to artists and historians - who have built their careers and constructed their identities in the shadow of the Putin system. Torn between their own ambitions and the omnipresent demands of the state, each walks an individual path of compromise.
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Stimulating
- By Amazon Customer on 03-16-20
By: Joshua Yaffa
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The Future Is History
- How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning journalist Masha Gessen's understanding of the events and forces that have wracked Russia in recent times is unparalleled. In The Future Is History, Gessen follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own - as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, and writers, sexual and social beings.
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The author is an international treasure
- By ThreeGems on 10-16-17
By: Masha Gessen
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A Promised Land
- By: Barack Obama
- Narrated by: Barack Obama
- Length: 29 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
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Color me grateful.
- By Angela on 11-19-20
By: Barack Obama
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The War for America's Soul
- Donald Trump, the Left's Assault on America, and How We Take Back Our Country
- By: Sebastian Gorka
- Narrated by: Dennis Prager, Sebastian Gorka
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Our country is at war with itself. On one side are American patriots, dedicated to freedom under the Constitution; on the other side are leftists campaigning not just to win elections, but to radically transform the nation. In this political war for the soul of our country, America’s patriots need a strategist with a blueprint for victory. Luckily, we have such a man in Dr. Sebastian Gorka - a former strategist for President Trump and now a nationally syndicated radio host and a fearless culture warrior.
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Great Book
- By Margie Books on 12-05-19
By: Sebastian Gorka
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For the Record
- By: David Cameron
- Narrated by: David Cameron
- Length: 29 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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David Cameron was elected Conservative leader in 2005, promising to modernize the party following its three successive electoral defeats. He became Prime Minister in 2010, forming Britain’s first coalition government in 70 years, at a moment of economic crisis, and went on to win the first outright Conservative majority for 23 years at the 2015 general election.
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Wish i did not read it first
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: David Cameron
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Strongmen
- Mussolini to the Present
- By: Ruth Ben-Ghiat
- Narrated by: Chloe Cannon
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the expert on the "strongman" playbook employed by authoritarian demagogues from Mussolini to Putin. In Strongmen, she lays bare the blueprint these leaders have followed over the past 100 years, and empowers us to recognize, resist, and prevent their disastrous rule in the future.
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Fascism expert talks fascism
- By sparky on 12-04-20
By: Ruth Ben-Ghiat
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Hard Choices
- By: Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Narrated by: Kathleen Chalfant, Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Length: 26 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Hillary Rodham Clinton's inside account of the crises, choices, and challenges she faced during her four years as America's 67th Secretary of State, and how those experiences drive her view of the future. In the aftermath of her 2008 presidential run, she expected to return to representing New York in the United States Senate. To her surprise, her former rival for the Democratic Party nomination, newly elected President Barack Obama, asked her to serve in his administration as Secretary of State. This memoir is the story of the four extraordinary and historic years that followed.
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Senior Stateswoman in need of Editor
- By Cynthia on 07-20-14
What listeners say about The Fight of Our Lives
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- mathias plank
- 11-07-22
Both fascinating and moving
It is both fascinating and moving to listen to the story of the author about the country that she loves. A must read!
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- KennyH
- 10-17-23
listen to Ukrainian voices!!
the world needs to stop listening up Western politicians and pundits. listen to real Ukrainian voices. learn who and what they are! this book was very moving and informative, and the narrator was amazing
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- Laura
- 12-03-22
Highly Relevant for Understanding Ukraine, War
I greatly appreciate the historical background Iuliia Mendel provides. As an American, the recent history of Europe is something of a file cabinet of facts that has been dumped on the floor for me to sort. Iuliia Mendel does a great job of imparting the relevance-- to my life and my children's lives-- of recent history that has happened and is happening far away.
I'm glad she read some of it herself.
Bravo!
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- D Petersen
- 09-17-22
A boomer's take
Always looking for ways to directly support Ukrainians rather than trust too much agencies like the IRC, or Paypal payments to unknown email addresses, I bought the audible version without caring about whether the book would be any good or not. I will confess after a few days, as I waited for its release, I began to get concerned that maybe, like in all wars, that the authors was being opportunistic. But, I have just finished listening to the audible book and I am grateful for the following reasons.
First, technically, there are no translation or production issues. I heard everything and could follow the flow of the discussion perfectly.
Second, I am grateful, because since the invasion of Ukraine I have learnt much more about the circumstances and had questions about for example a) why was Zelensky popularity beginning to fade just before the invasion and b) what is the deal with Porrishenko. I recommend the book if only to learn about item "b", if one so cares. I think the book explains what Zenlensky had to deal with after he was elected and while the author probably could be said to be understandly biased she explained fairly well the context of the situation ...not wanting to give away too much because I think if a person cares then they owe it to themselves to read the book.
Another take away for me was understanding Oligarchs as a sociological phenomenon. We "westerners" have been conditioned to see them as individuals, but in reality they take many forms, principally in the west as the guise of corporations. How many corporations use their wealth to monopolized their markets and rates in the west.
The author is tech savvy, but I disagree with her assertion that being such is a function of a person age, except in a very general sense that Millenials are more embracing of social media and understand its potential and shortcomings (i.e. the weaponization of said). I doubt many Millennials understand that "the cloud" is in a way is like the movie "Back to the Future" where keyboards and monitors were essentially dumb terminals.
I am from a small country and now live in the country that overshadowed my country in every way. We also dealt with language issues but not like what was described in the book. Nevertheless, I am grateful the author went over the nature of language issue between ruzzia and Ukraine.
In summary, the book will give a person, a rounder understanding of many of the issues that Ukraines have always faced and are facing.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Victoria Eriksson
- 12-13-22
I love Iulia
She’s like me or any American political person, we see things the same way,I kept saying “me too” listening to her. I’m a 🇺🇦🇺🇸so I implore all English speaking Westerners our age to see how much we have in common with Ukrainians. They are incredible people. I love Zelenskyy and I loved this book, I could really relate as a professional. Read it
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- Jim Kirby
- 09-20-22
Just Great!
Luliia Mendel's book "The Fight of Our Lives: My Time with Zelenskyy..." is a clear eyed look at the rise of not only President Zalenskyy but the emerging proud identity of the Ukrainian people. It shines a light of the inner dialogue of Ukraine as the country emerges from the dark paralysis of the former Soviet Union. The author brilliantly walks the reader through the country's recent history and its battle with Russian oligarchs and propaganda. It not only reveals the struggles and victories of the country and its president but also of a young girl growing up in a now independent Ukraine as she grows into a skilled journalist, spokesperson and advisor for her country and her president. This book is more than a recounting of the history of a country and its recent war, but a heart felt view from the inside out by one who has lived through it all and has helped form the new and proud narrative of Ukraine
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lawrence Cowie
- 09-20-22
great listen
very detailed story. of last 33 years in Ukraine. quick and easy to learn. try it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Leo Kilpatrick
- 08-04-23
A Clear Path to War..
This book is both eloquent and educational. For me, it painted the picture of Ukraine's struggle for freedom. The story of why... what led up to the invasion. Ukraine's fight to move away from Russia, to modernize society without oligarchs stealing from Ukraine, to wanting to join NATO.
Perfect. Well done.
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- PiercePress
- 02-13-23
Слава Україні!
Excellent book to learnabout what's happening now, from a member of the Zelensky administration. Recommended.
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- Oleksiy Kovyrin
- 02-20-23
Glory to Ukraine!
This book has helped me a lot with understanding of the changes and changes in Ukrainian society in the period since I (a person born and raised in Ukraine) has left the country in 2006. Thank you, Yulia for such a personal account of the past 20 years. 🇺🇦
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