The showman

The Showman is a monumental account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the establishment of a new political leadership seen from the inside, from the author's exclusive access to Volodymyr Zelensky.

From the wings of game shows in Ukraine to the trenches of the war against Russia, Simon Shuster, a Time magazine correspondent, portrays the life and wartime leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Based on four years of reporting, extensive trips to the front with the president, and dozens of interviews with him, his wife, friends and foes, advisers, ministers, and military commanders, *The Showman* tells the intimate and revealing story of a comedian's evolution into a symbol of resilience, and how he won the support of so many democratic states for his cause.

Realistic about Zelensky's initial failures to secure peace and his willingness to silence political dissent, the book paints a complex portrait of a man struggling to break what he sees as a historical cycle of oppression that began many generations before his own. Even as the war progresses, Zelensky maintains his vision for the future of the war and, through his actions, creates surprising strategies to contain the Russians and keep the West on his side.

As a report, The Showman offers an essential eyewitness perspective on one of the defining conflicts of our time. As a study of leadership and human determination, it is a timeless and universal book.

" The Showman is a landmark. No journalist today has had such exclusive, real-time access to these figures as they changed the world. Thanks to Simon Shuster and his brilliant, frank, and truthful book, readers today—and generations to come—will have the chance to experience the inner workings of war and understand Volodymyr Zelensky." - Mikhail Zygar, author of All the Kremlin's Men

"A powerful and evocative account of one of the most remarkable figures of our time. This book offers a front-row seat to history as it's being made." - Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Twilight of Democracy