Historical
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Lessons From The Edge: A Memoir
An inspiring and urgent memoir by the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine-a pioneering diplomat who spent her career advancing democracy in the post-Soviet world, and who electrified the nation by speaking truth to power during the first impeachment of President Trump.
Marie Yovanovitch was at the height of her diplomatic career when it all came crashing down. In the middle of her third ambassadorship-a rarity in the world of diplomacy-she was targeted by a smear campaign and abruptly recalled from her post in Kyiv, Ukraine. In the months that followed, she endured personal tragedy while simultaneously being pulled into the blinding lights of the first impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. It was a time of chaos and pain, for her and for the nation.
Yet Yovanovitch was no stranger to instability and injustice. Born into a family that had survived Soviet and Nazi terror, she first saw the corrosive effect of corruption in Somalia while cutting her teeth as a diplomat in the male-dominated world of the 1980s State Department. She was an eyewitness to the 1993 constitutional crisis in Russia and the street fighting in Moscow. And she rose to the top of her profession in the crucible of the former USSR, where she saw how President Vladimir Putin adeptly exploited corrupt leaders in neighboring countries and undermined their developing democracies.
Nowhere was Putin's aggression clearer than in Ukraine, where Russia meddled in elections, launched cyberattacks, peddled misinformation, illegally annexed Crimea, invaded the Donbas, and attacked Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. But when Yovanovitch was abruptly recalled from her post and Ukraine's democratically elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, found himself set upon by Trump, it became clear just how dangerously close to the edge America itself had strayed.
Through it all, Yovanovitch tirelessly advocated for the Ukrainian people, while advancing U.S. interests and staying true to herself. When she made the courageous decision to participate in the impeachment inquiry-over the objections of the Trump administration-she earned the nation's respect, and her dignified response to the president's attacks won our hearts. She has reclaimed her own narrative, first with her lauded congressional testimony, and now with this powerful memoir: the dramatic saga of one woman's role at the vanguard of American foreign policy during a time of upheaval, for herself and for our country.
A Publishers Marketplace 2021 Buzz Book
"A brilliant, engaging, and inspiring memoir from one of America's wisest and most courageous diplomats-essential reading for current policymakers, aspiring public servants, and anyone who cares about America's role in the world."-Madeleine K. Albright
"First through the breach, Ambassador Yovanovitch showed Americans what courage and patriotism looks like. More than essential reading, Lessons from the Edge is thoroughly engaging and impossible to put down, showing us how an introverted career diplomat overcame the most vicious of smear campaigns to become a foreign service legend."-Congressman Adam Schiff
"At turns moving and gripping and always inspiring … a powerful testament to a uniquely American life well-lived and a remarkable career of dedicated public service at the highest levels of government."-Fiona Hill, New York Times best-selling author of There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
Marie Yovanovitch was at the height of her diplomatic career when it all came crashing down. In the middle of her third ambassadorship-a rarity in the world of diplomacy-she was targeted by a smear campaign and abruptly recalled from her post in Kyiv, Ukraine. In the months that followed, she endured personal tragedy while simultaneously being pulled into the blinding lights of the first impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. It was a time of chaos and pain, for her and for the nation.
Yet Yovanovitch was no stranger to instability and injustice. Born into a family that had survived Soviet and Nazi terror, she first saw the corrosive effect of corruption in Somalia while cutting her teeth as a diplomat in the male-dominated world of the 1980s State Department. She was an eyewitness to the 1993 constitutional crisis in Russia and the street fighting in Moscow. And she rose to the top of her profession in the crucible of the former USSR, where she saw how President Vladimir Putin adeptly exploited corrupt leaders in neighboring countries and undermined their developing democracies.
Nowhere was Putin's aggression clearer than in Ukraine, where Russia meddled in elections, launched cyberattacks, peddled misinformation, illegally annexed Crimea, invaded the Donbas, and attacked Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. But when Yovanovitch was abruptly recalled from her post and Ukraine's democratically elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, found himself set upon by Trump, it became clear just how dangerously close to the edge America itself had strayed.
Through it all, Yovanovitch tirelessly advocated for the Ukrainian people, while advancing U.S. interests and staying true to herself. When she made the courageous decision to participate in the impeachment inquiry-over the objections of the Trump administration-she earned the nation's respect, and her dignified response to the president's attacks won our hearts. She has reclaimed her own narrative, first with her lauded congressional testimony, and now with this powerful memoir: the dramatic saga of one woman's role at the vanguard of American foreign policy during a time of upheaval, for herself and for our country.
A Publishers Marketplace 2021 Buzz Book
"A brilliant, engaging, and inspiring memoir from one of America's wisest and most courageous diplomats-essential reading for current policymakers, aspiring public servants, and anyone who cares about America's role in the world."-Madeleine K. Albright
"First through the breach, Ambassador Yovanovitch showed Americans what courage and patriotism looks like. More than essential reading, Lessons from the Edge is thoroughly engaging and impossible to put down, showing us how an introverted career diplomat overcame the most vicious of smear campaigns to become a foreign service legend."-Congressman Adam Schiff
"At turns moving and gripping and always inspiring … a powerful testament to a uniquely American life well-lived and a remarkable career of dedicated public service at the highest levels of government."-Fiona Hill, New York Times best-selling author of There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
Editorial Reviews
"Absorbing… During the [impeachment] hearings, Yovanovitch sounded calm and self-assured, but in her book she describes how scared she was…. That I arrived at this moment in the book with my heart in my throat speaks to how skillfully Yovanovitch narrates her life story." -- Jennifer Szalai, New York Times
"Subtle and engaging ... Yovanovitch emerges from this narrative as a model of what America should want in its diplomats: courageous, steadfast, removed from politics to the point of naivete." -- David Ignatius, The Washington Post
"Lessons From the Edge is a brilliant, engaging, and inspiring memoir from one of America's wisest and most courageous diplomats. More than just a vivid exposition of the events leading up to Donald Trump's first impeachment, Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch has written a timely and authoritative account of U.S. policy towards the former Soviet Union. This book is essential reading for current policymakers, aspiring diplomats, and anyone who cares about America's role in the world." -- Madeleine K. Albright, former US Secretary of State
"We've never needed [Yovanovitch's] insights more than we do right now." -- Ali Velshi, The Rachel Maddow Show
"A superbly crafted and intimately revealing self-portrait of a true hero of American diplomacy.… Wherever her diplomatic missions took her, Yovanovitch epitomized foreign service office philosophy, hewing to the principle of representing American ideals and policies with dignity and integrity." -- Booklist (starred review)
"Ambassador Yovanovitch's dismissal from post in Kyiv marked a cruel end to the illustrious career of one of the most respected diplomats in the U.S. Foreign Service. It also helped spark a chain of events that led to Donald Trump's first impeachment. This memoir, at turns moving and gripping and always inspiring, is a powerful testament to a uniquely American life well-lived and a remarkable career of dedicated public service at the highest levels of government." -- Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution, and New York Times best-selling author of There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
"Captivating… a compelling memoir of diplomatic service behind the old Iron Curtain." -- Kirkus Reviews
"First through the breach, Ambassador Yovanovitch showed Americans what courage and patriotism looks like. More than essential reading, Lessons from the Edge is thoroughly engaging and impossible to put down, showing us how an introverted career diplomat overcame the most vicious of smear campaigns to become a foreign service legend." -- Congressman Adam Schiff
"Written with the...
"Subtle and engaging ... Yovanovitch emerges from this narrative as a model of what America should want in its diplomats: courageous, steadfast, removed from politics to the point of naivete." -- David Ignatius, The Washington Post
"Lessons From the Edge is a brilliant, engaging, and inspiring memoir from one of America's wisest and most courageous diplomats. More than just a vivid exposition of the events leading up to Donald Trump's first impeachment, Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch has written a timely and authoritative account of U.S. policy towards the former Soviet Union. This book is essential reading for current policymakers, aspiring diplomats, and anyone who cares about America's role in the world." -- Madeleine K. Albright, former US Secretary of State
"We've never needed [Yovanovitch's] insights more than we do right now." -- Ali Velshi, The Rachel Maddow Show
"A superbly crafted and intimately revealing self-portrait of a true hero of American diplomacy.… Wherever her diplomatic missions took her, Yovanovitch epitomized foreign service office philosophy, hewing to the principle of representing American ideals and policies with dignity and integrity." -- Booklist (starred review)
"Ambassador Yovanovitch's dismissal from post in Kyiv marked a cruel end to the illustrious career of one of the most respected diplomats in the U.S. Foreign Service. It also helped spark a chain of events that led to Donald Trump's first impeachment. This memoir, at turns moving and gripping and always inspiring, is a powerful testament to a uniquely American life well-lived and a remarkable career of dedicated public service at the highest levels of government." -- Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution, and New York Times best-selling author of There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
"Captivating… a compelling memoir of diplomatic service behind the old Iron Curtain." -- Kirkus Reviews
"First through the breach, Ambassador Yovanovitch showed Americans what courage and patriotism looks like. More than essential reading, Lessons from the Edge is thoroughly engaging and impossible to put down, showing us how an introverted career diplomat overcame the most vicious of smear campaigns to become a foreign service legend." -- Congressman Adam Schiff
"Written with the...
Readers Top Reviews
CC
This memoir is divided into three parts, with 19 chapters, and a total of 365 pages, not including the Acknowledgments. In the middle of the book there is a Photos section on glossy paper, with 38 different pictures. These are pictures of various places and people that Yovanovitch interacted with over the years. At the beginning of the book right after the Table of Contents, there is a map of eastern Europe and the Middle East, with specific places highlighted. (This is especially useful and relevant considering the current war.) In an Author's Note at the beginning of the book, Yovanovitch explains that there is a difference between the Russian and Ukrainian languages, and she uses the Russian transliterations when talking about Russian places, and the Ukrainian transliterations when referring to Ukrainian places ( ie Russian: “Kiev” vs Ukrainian: “Kyiv” ; so she uses “Kyiv”) The first part of the book covers Yovanovitch's early life. She describes her Russian parents and her early schooling, and later her introduction to Foreign Service and her first visits to the USSR in the 1980s. In the second part of the book covers Yovanovitch's various postings overseas. There are chapters discussing Somalia, the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia. The third part covers the years 2106 – 2020. This is the biggest section of the book, and she discusses many different events, including the Russian occupation of Crimea, and Russian cyber-attacks. She also covers the transition into the Trump administration, the escalating tensions, and of course her public conflict with Trump. This was a very interesting and informative window into the life of a longtime diplomat, with insights into some of the events that led up to the current war. I appreciate Yovanovitch for sharing such intimate details about her life, and her unique knowledge of the complex relationships between countries. This book is especially relevant right now, and it really helped me to better understand the roots of the conflict.
Movie CriticCC
I’ve been waiting for this book to come out so I could get the “inside scoop” on what really happened with Trump and Giuliani and Ukraine. Not only did Ambassador Yovanovitch spill the goods, but I also was moved by her description of the unsung heroes of the Foreign Service. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in foreign affairs.
Trudie BarrerasMo
“Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir” by Marie Yovanovitch is one more in a long series of deeply probing, extremely relevant personal stories shared by individuals I consider to be “pivotal people” in our current time of crisis. Needless to say, like everyone else, I became aware of and impressed by Ambassador Yovanovitch during the hearings for the first impeachment of our former president. I knew her memoir would be interesting, which is why I pre-ordered it months ago when it was first announced, and began reading it avidly as soon as it arrived on my Kindle. What I had not anticipated – doubtless due to my own obliviousness to the complications of world events prior to the recent series of crises – was how so many ominous circumstances related to the vicissitudes of developing democracies after the dissolution of the Soviet Union were interconnected via the machinations of the Russian determination to reassert domination. This is why I found the account Yovanovitch gives in this extraordinarily well-written and cogent memoir to be more than just an authentic insight into the life and personality of the author. It is also vitally enlightening about the geopolitical circumstances which currently threaten the survival not only of democracy but of our entire planet. The “edge” cited in the title is one from which civilization as a whole could easily tumble if we do not allow the lessons the author elucidates to become our ethical insights as soon as possible.
