Ukraine: A History Author: Orest Subtelny | Language: English | ISBN:
1442609915 | Format: PDF
Ukraine: A History Description
Review
'An excellent history of Ukrainians.'
'Orest Subtelny's Ukraine: A History is the standard work on the subject ... Enormously readable and eminently "useable" in many educational contexts, [it is required reading for anyone interested in the emergence of a Ukrainian territory, identity, and state.'
'Highly recommended for its lucidity, meticulous attention to detail, and scholarly precision, Ukraine: A History is a "must" for anyone who wants to learn about this fascinating land and its people.'
'The best history of Ukraine in English.'
Review
'An excellent history of Ukrainians.'
(Paul Robert Magocsi
Journal of Ukrainian Studies)
'If the purpose of historical writing is to make people think reasonably about an issue, then students and general readers interested in the subject of this book will be grateful to its author. Orest Subtleny ... has written the best English-language history of Ukraine yet published.'
(Stephen Velchenko
History)
'A fine, immensely readable book that should be on the bookshelf of anyone even remotely interested in Ukrainian history.'
(David R. Marples
Edmonton Journal)
'The best history of Ukraine in English.'
(World Affairs Report)
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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- Paperback: 888 pages
- Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division; 4 edition (November 10, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1442609915
- ISBN-13: 978-1442609914
- Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
A newcomer to Kyiv is develops a number of curious observations. Some people are hypersensitive to which language I studied or spoke -- Ukrainian or Russian. There are a vast number of big black Mercedes, Lexus', Bentleys and even a few Maybachs on the streets, even though everybody I know lives in fairly modest apartments. Once again on meager budgets, the young women dressed sensationally, and look wonderful, while the older women by and large dress simply in look their age. The streets are safer than any big city in the United States, but the population has a kind of paranoia. One reads about tremendous social problems such as HIV, abandoned children, alcoholism and absolute penury, but they are not highly visible. These are some of the most attractive people on earth, to outward appearances almost uniformly heterosexual, openly affectionate with each other, but with the lowest birth rate in Europe. Lastly, the Ukrainians are as thoroughly European, and appear to have a worldview much closer to western Europe and America than Orientals, Africans, or Latin Americans, but their society is afflicted with problems such as corruption that seem more appropriate to other regions. I read Mr. Subtelny's book to learn their history in an effort to understand the people.
Ukraine's history is a litany of tragedies following one on the heels of another. The geography of the steppes offer no natural defenses. They only significant military barrier, the Dnieper River, runs right through the middle of the country.
Ukraine was surrounded by empires for most of the last millennium. In clockwise order, the Habsburgs, the third Reich, the Poles, the Lithuanians, the Russians, the Mongols, and the Ottomans. The very name of the country means "the edge.
Critically acclaimed when first published in 1988 and subsequently translated into Ukrainian and Russian, this fourth (2009) edition of Dr. Orest Subtelny's Ukraine: A History is updated with forty-eight additional pages of insightful analyses, two extra photos covering Ukraine's history from 2000 through 2009, and is available on Kindle. Focus is on the Kuchma and Yushchenko presidencies and the "dramatic political, socio-economic and cultural changes that occurred."
Dr. Subtelny's analyses include: "developments in the political sphere, particularly covering the Orange Revolution and the institutional growth of the new state." Discussions are on the following: Domestic Policies (the Kuchma Years, the Orange Revolution, and the Yushchenko Years); International Relations (Relations with the West, Enter NATO, Poland, Russia, Yushchenko's Policies, and the Ukrainian-Russian Gas War); State and Nation Building (State Building, Nation Building, Regionalism); Economy; and, Society (the New Middle Class, the Fading Intelligentsia, Other Urban Dwellers, the Declining Village, Corruption, Demographics, Emigration, and Religion).
Looking at the handsome cover, the color orange is outstanding and reminiscent of the Orange Revolution; and, rightly so, since the Orange Revolution is one of the topics covered and discussed in the latest addition to Part Five entitled `The Age of Globalization.' The cover illustration is Cossack Mamai, canvas, oil, early 19th century. Hradizhsk, Kremenchuk District, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine. Courtesy of the National Art Museum of Ukraine.
Thirty full-page maps enable the reader to follow events as they are chronicled.
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