Synopses & Reviews
Ukraine is currently embroiled in a tense fight with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence. But todayand#8217;s conflict is only the latest in a long history of battles over Ukraineand#8217;s territory and its existence as a sovereign nation. As the award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues in
The Gates of Europe, we must examine Ukraineand#8217;s past in order to understand its present and future.
Situated between Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, Ukraine was shaped by the empires that used it as a strategic gateway between East and Westand#151;from the Roman and Ottoman empires to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. For centuries, Ukraine has been a meeting place of various cultures. The mixing of sedentary and nomadic peoples and Christianity and Islam on the steppe borderland produced the class of ferocious warriors known as the Cossacks, for example, while the encounter between the Catholic and Orthodox churches created a religious tradition that bridges Western and Eastern Christianity. Ukraine has also been a home to millions of Jews, serving as the birthplace of Hassidismand#151;and as one of the killing fields of the Holocaust.
Plokhy examines the history of Ukraineand#8217;s search for its identity through the lives of the major figures in Ukrainian history: Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kyiv, whose daughter Anna became queen of France; the Cossack ruler Ivan Mazepa, who was immortalized in the poems of Byron and Pushkin; Nikita Khrushchev and his protand#233;gand#233;-turned-nemesis Leonid Brezhnev, who called Ukraine their home; and the heroes of the Maidan protests of 2013 and 2014, who embody the current struggle over Ukraineand#8217;s future.
As Plokhy explains, todayand#8217;s crisis is a tragic case of history repeating itself, as Ukraine once again finds itself in the center of the battle of global proportions. An authoritative history of this vital country, The Gates of Europe provides a unique insight into the origins of the most dangerous international crisis since the end of the Cold War.
Review
Peter Pomerantsev, author of Nothing is True and Everything is Possibleand#147;Finally: a compelling and concise history of a country leading the news but which too many know embarrassingly little about. There are no more excuses for ignorance.and#8221;
Andrew Wilson, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at University College London
and#147;Serhii Plokhy has produced a perfect new history of Ukraine for these troubled timesand#151;authoritative and innovative, but always clear and accessible, and a delight to read.and#8221;
John Herbst, former US Ambassador to Ukraine
and#147;Serhii Plokhy offers a short yet comprehensive history of Ukraine that contextualizes Mr. Putinand#8217;s current policies as aggression against the wishes of the Ukrainian people, as well as the order established at the end of the Cold War. A pleasure to read, The Gates of Europe will take those familiar with the Moscow narrative on a mind expanding tour of Ukraineand#8217;s past.and#8221;
Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
and#147;Complex and nuanced, refreshingly revisionist and lucid, this is a compelling and outstanding short history of the blood-soaked land that has so often been the battlefield and breadbasket of Europe. The Gates of Europe combines scholarly authority with narrative flairand#151;essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Russia and Ukraine today.and#8221;
Synopsis
Ukraine is currently embroiled in a tense battle with Russia to preserve its economic and political independence. But todayand#8217;s conflict is only the latest in a long history of battles over Ukraineand#8217;s existence as a sovereign nation. As award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues in
The Gates of Europe, we must examine Ukraineand#8217;s past in order to understand its fraught present and likely future.
Situated between Europe, Russia, and the Asian East, Ukraine was shaped by the empires that have used it as a strategic gateway between East and Westand#8212;from the Romans and Ottomans to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, all have engaged in global fights for supremacy on Ukrainian soil. Each invading army left a lasting mark on the landscape and on the population, making modern Ukraine an amalgam of competing cultures.
Authoritative and vividly written, The Gates of Europe will be the definitive history of Ukraine for years to come.
About the Author
Serhii Plokhy is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard and the director of the universityand#8217;s Ukrainian Research Institute. In June 2013 he was named Walter Channing Cabot Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He has served on the advisory committees of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard. He also serves on the editorial boards of
Russian History,
East European Politics and Societies,
Harvard Ukrainian Studies, and the
Journal of Ukrainian Studies. Plokhy is the author of nine books, including
The Last Empire and
Yalta, which won the Ukrainian National Womenand#8217;s League of America Book Prize and was shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Foundation Prize.
Table of Contents
I. ON THE PONTIC FRONTIER1. The Edugeo f the World
2. The Advent of the Slavs
3. Vikings on the Dnieper
4. Byzantium North
5. The Keys to Kyiv
6. Pax Mongolica
II. EAST MEETS WEST
7. The Making of Ukraine
8. The Cossacks
9. Eastern Reformation
10. The Great Revolt
11. The Partitions
12. The Verdict of Poltava
III. BETWEEN THE EMPIRES
13. The New Frontiers
14. The Books of the Genesis
15. The Porous Border
16. On the Move
17. The Unfinished Revolution
IV. THE WARS OF THE WORLD
18. The Birth of a Nation
19. A Shattered Dream
20. Communism and Nationalism
21. Stalin's Fortress
22. Hitler's Lebensraum
23. The Victors
V. THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
24. The Second Soviet Republic
25. Good Bye, Lenin!
26. The Independence Square
27. The Price of Freedom
Epilogue: The Meanings of History