ATHENS — Left-wing former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras released his memoir Monday, revisiting Athens’ time on the eurozone’s cliff edge and blasting his ex-Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.

In the book, titled “Ithaki” (Ithaca) and spanning 762 pages, Tsipras chronicles his political journey, defends his political choices and attempts some self-reflection.

He is also critical of several former allies, particularly firebrand Varoufakis, whom he fell out with during the peak of the 2015 eurozone crisis. Tsipras admitted that he “underestimated the human factor” when choosing him and argues that Varoufakis was “more celebrity than economist.”

Tsipras was 34 years old when he became the Syriza party’s leader and oversaw its electoral leap from 4.6 percent in 2009 to 36.3 percent in 2015.

The radical left-wing party gained Europe-wide notoriety at the zenith of the financial crisis in 2015, when it looked as though Tsipras and Varoufakis were about to lead Athens out of the eurozone in high-stakes negotiations with German-led debt hawks in the EU.

In July 2015, after winning a referendum in which Greeks rejected the EU’s proposed bailout terms — a symbolic victory that ultimately changed little — Tsipras reversed course, accepted a new bailout to keep Greece in the euro and was reelected that September.

The former PM, who left office in 2019, repeatedly says in the book that he never truly considered the idea of a so-called Grexit from the eurozone, but confirms the risk was real and part of former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble’s plan as Athens’ fiscal woes rattled the common currency.

Tsipras wrote that Varoufakis facilitated this with his confrontational approach and strategic brinkmanship until he was “ousted” from the Finance Ministry.

“Varoufakis went from being an asset to a negative protagonist. Not only could our potential allies not stand him, but neither could his own colleagues,” he said.

Tsipras ultimately soured on his finance minister when Varoufakis presented him with his “Plan B,” which involved introducing a parallel currency using vouchers.

“‘Instead of giving money to pensioners and employees, we would print vouchers that they could use to buy goods and services,’” Varoufakis said. When I heard this, I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. I reacted, ‘Are you serious?’” Tsipras recalled.

Tsipras also described his government’s attempts to turn to the Kremlin for financial aid.

On June 19, 2015, during a meeting in St. Petersburg, Tsipras suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he make a symbolic investment of €200-300 million in Greek government bonds. 

“His answer was honest and blunt,” Tsipras said. “Putin said he would rather give the money to an orphanage because, he said, giving it to Greece would be like throwing it in the trash.” He suggested Greece reach an agreement with the Europeans, particularly German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In October, Tsipras stepped down from his parliamentary seat and left Syriza, as speculation mounts that he will form a new party.