Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation
by Yaroslav Hrystak
Published in Ukrainian in 2022; English translation
published in the UK in 2023; 438 pages in length, including acknowledgements
and a selected biography.
Reviewed by Peter McKenzie-Brown
My
off-the-wall book presentation stretches the geography theme quite a bit. The
author is a Ukrainian academic; the book was translated by Dominique Hoffman in
2023, as the country defended itself against war and invasion from the USSR. In
the book’s acknowledgements, Hrystak says “I have the impression that thanks to
her, my book sounds better in English than in Eukraine. I am thankful.”
A professor
at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Kiev, the author delivers an
enlightening history intended for serious readers like the gentlemen reading
this review. Among other things, you will discover that familiarity with
Western European history is of little help in comprehending the vast lands and
people of Ukraine. Ethnically, the country is quite diverse.
When Russia
invaded Ukraine in 2022, people around the world witnessed the remarkable
reality of contemporary Ukraine, which has a key place in Western Europe: It is
the breadbasket of Europe – a reality described in the book’s first interlude
chapter, titled “A Brief History of Ukrainian Bread.” The book’s other two
such chapters are titled “A Brief History of Ukrainian Song” and “A brief
History of the Ukrainian Borderland.”
In this
superb book, the author presents the millennium of Ukrainian history with
humour, but also covers the dangers the country has often encountered. It tells
the Ukraine story through what strikes me as a balanced analysis of events,
conflicts, and developments that have shaped it over the course of centuries.
So doing, he weaves a rich and detailed tapestry of a country in continual
transformation.
Ukraine is essential reading for anyone who wants to better
understand the country’s dramatic past and its global significance - from the
17th-century Cossack uprising to the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and Ukrainian
independence, and from the evolution of the Ukrainian language to the warning
signs that anticipated Russia’s invasion almost three years ago.
This book
is the definitive story of Ukraine and its people, as told by one of its most
celebrated voices. Published in 2022, the book required a long introduction to account for
Russia’s invasion.
More than
1,000 years ago, Vikings from Scandinavia moved east, mixing with Slavic tribes
to form a huge realm centered on Kyiv, in today’s Ukraine. Although comprising
a distinct culture, Ukrainians never coalesced as a state, and the opportunity
vanished in 1772-1796, when its neighbors partitioned the territory. Russia
absorbed most Ukrainians, and Austria-Hungary the rest. Nonetheless, Ukrainian
nationalism flourished throughout the 19th century. Under Lenin, the Ukrainian
Soviet Socialist Republic enjoyed modest autonomy, but its peasants were
strongly resistant to Stalin’s laws of collectivization.
This book is riveting
to history nerds like yours truly. Hrytsak tells the story of his nation
through a meticulous examination of the major events, conflicts, and
developments that shaped it over the course of centuries. Granted that I
haven’t read other histories of this country, but my strong opinion is that
this one is definitive.