By the Book is a feature series where journalists discuss their works of fiction and non-fiction.
It’s the kind of full circle moment that another journalist might have approached as their mic drop story. In November 2023, Fox News senior correspondent Benjamin Hall traveled to Ukraine to interview the war-battered nation’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Nearly two years earlier, Hall had been a casualty of that war, sustaining near-fatal injuries when missiles struck a car carrying himself and two other journalists. The attack claimed his right leg, left foot, and the use of one eye. His colleagues Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova didn’t survive.
Despite the traumatic circumstances surrounding his previous visit to Ukraine, the 42-year-old British-American reporter didn’t hesitate in booking a return trip. “In my mind, it was never a question of if, but when,” Hall writes in his new book, Resolute, which hits shelves on March 18 accompanied by the premiere of a Fox Nation streaming series. “I had to go back.”
Elaborating on his decision in an interview with TVNewser, Hall says that a desire to “relive what I had gotten through” was the main motivator behind his journey. “I don’t think you should ever hide from bad things that have happened,” he adds. “You should look straight at them.”
It helped that Zelenskyy himself had extended the invitation and made himself readily available to Hall. In his book, the journalist describes his admiration for the Ukrainian president and what he had managed to achieve in a war that had pitted him against the seemingly superior resources of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“He was far more philosopher than I thought he would be,” Hall says of their 2023 conversation. “I was really interested to see that side of him. He was so open and happy to talk.”
Far from being the interview that capped his broadcasting career, Hall’s interview with Zelenskyy reignited his drive to cover consequential stories. “I immediately started thinking, ‘What else can I do?’” he recalls. “It could have been the last one, but when big stories happen around the world, I still get the feeling that I have to be there.”
