Synopses & Reviews
In a fascinating "urban biography," Michael Hamm tells the story of one of Europe's most diverse cities and its distinctive mix of Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, and Jewish inhabitants. A splendid urban center in medieval times, Kiev became a major metropolis in late Imperial Russia, and is now the capital of independent Ukraine. After a concise account of Kiev's early history, Hamm focuses on the city's dramatic growth in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first historian to analyze how each of Kiev's ethnic groups contributed to the vitality of the city's culture, he also examines the violent conflicts that developed among them. In vivid detail, he shows why Kiev came to be known for its "abundance of revolutionaries" and its anti-Semitic violence.
Review
"This carefully detailed account reveals another side of the city's history.... [It] helps to put present events in context, showing that at least one of the 'new' nationalisms in the former Soviet Union has old and very deep roots."--Anne Applebaum, The Times (London)
Review
"Compelling reading.... Hamm's study of Kiev is a finely honed work. It conveys ... a sense of place, a feel for a city undergoing rapid, often profoundly unsettling change."--James H. Bater, Russian Review
Review
This carefully detailed account reveals another side of the city's history.... [It] helps to put present events in context, showing that at least one of the 'new' nationalisms in the former Soviet Union has old and very deep roots. Anne Applebaum
Review
Compelling reading.... Hamm's study of Kiev is a finely honed work. It conveys ... a sense of place, a feel for a city undergoing rapid, often profoundly unsettling change. The Times
Review
Winner of the Antonovych Prize for an Exceptional Work on the History of the Ukraine, Omelan and Tatiana Antonovych Foundation
Synopsis
"A unique and vivid picture of the evolution of one of the principle cities of Eastern Europe. The importance of careful study of the ethnic dimensions to Ukrainian (and Kievan) history is obvious. Hamm's work makes a thoughtful, scholarly, and balanced contribution to this project. No comparable histories of Kiev exist. In a larger perspective, this book is the best of the few urban biographies on imperial Russian cities."--Daniel Brower, University of California, Davis
Synopsis
In a fascinating "urban biography," Michael Hamm tells the story of one of Europe's most diverse cities and its distinctive mix of Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, and Jewish inhabitants. A splendid urban center in medieval times, Kiev became a major metropolis in late Imperial Russia, and is now the capital of independent Ukraine. After a concise account of Kiev's early history, Hamm focuses on the city's dramatic growth in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first historian to analyze how each of Kiev's ethnic groups contributed to the vitality of the city's culture, he also examines the violent conflicts that developed among them. In vivid detail, he shows why Kiev came to be known for its "abundance of revolutionaries" and its anti-Semitic violence.
Synopsis
"A unique and vivid picture of the evolution of one of the principle cities of Eastern Europe. The importance of careful study of the ethnic dimensions to Ukrainian (and Kievan) history is obvious. Hamm's work makes a thoughtful, scholarly, and balanced contribution to this project. No comparable histories of Kiev exist. In a larger perspective, this book is the best of the few urban biographies on imperial Russian cities."--Daniel Brower, University of California, Davis
Table of Contents
| List of Illustrations and Tables | |
| Preface | |
Ch. I | The Early History of Kiev | 3 |
Ch. II | The Growth of Metropolitan Kiev | 18 |
Ch. III | Polish Kiev | 55 |
Ch. IV | Ukrainians in Russian Kiev | 82 |
Ch. V | Jewish Kiev | 117 |
Ch. VI | Recreation, the Arts, and Popular Culture in Kiev | 135 |
Ch. VII | The Promise of Change: Kiev in 1905 | 173 |
Ch. VIII | The Promise Shattered: The October Pogrom | 189 |
Ch. IX | The Final Years of Romanov Kiev | 208 |
| Conclusion | 223 |
| Notes | 237 |
| Bibliography | 273 |
| Index | 287 |