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. Ninety-seven black and white illustrations and photos (usually full page, sometimes as duos or panoramas) enhance the text visually and are throughout the book in groups of eight segments.
While this fourth edition is published by the University of Toronto Press in 2009 (Ukraine is independent), the first edition was published in 1988 (Ukraine was in the USSR and known as Soviet Ukraine). In his Preface to the Fourth Edition, Professor Subtelny adds a technical note: "among Ukrainians the preferred spelling of their capital's name is Kyiv. I have adopted this version. However, because this book first appeared in 1988, before the Ukrainian version was adopted, the old version, Kiev, will, unfortunately, have to be used in this publication."
A Preface to each of the four editions gives an outline of that edition's analyses. Following the main chapters are extensive Notes on each of the thirty-one chapters (pgs. 677-693); a one-page list of Abbreviations; a one-page Glossary; Illustration Credits listed on one page; Selected Readings in English (pgs. 700-734); and, an extensive Index (pgs. 735-784).
Ukraine: A History was published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Financial assistance was also received from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
A brief curriculum vitae of the author follows. Orest Subtelny is a professor in the departments of History and Political Science at York University. A Canadian historian of Ukrainian ancestry, his Ph.D. is from Harvard University. Grants include the following: CBIE grant for curricular restructuring in the history faculty of University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy, Kiev, Ukraine (1996). Association of Universities and Colleges grant for organization of conference on Ukraine between NATO and Russia (1997). Faculty of Arts grant for archival research on post-World War II partisan warfare in Ukraine (1997). Professor Subtelny has recently taught classes on Modern Ukrainian History and Selected Problems in Modern Russia.
Papers and lectures by Professor Subtelny include: "The Historiography of Russian Tsarist Expansion" - Conference of the Association for the Study of Nationalities, Columbia University, 25-26 April 1996. "Explaining Empire: An Overview of Recent Theories," Research Seminar, Ukrainian Free University, Munich, 15-16 July 1996. "The Preconsular Phenomenon in Russian Imperial Expansion," Annual Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Boston, 15-17 November 1996. "Ukrainian Population Transfers in 1944-1948," Conference on Population Transfers in Eastern Europe, Gliwice, Poland, 17-20 December 1997.
Some of Dr. Subtelny's recent publications are: "Cossacks" - The World Book Encyclopedia (1997); "Ukraine" - Encarta Encyclopedia (1997); and, "Ukraine: The Imperial Heritage" - Briefing Papers of the Canadian Bureau of International Studies, 1996.
Besides Ukraine: A History, Professor Subtelny has authored the following: Domination of Eastern Europe; The Mazepists: Ukrainian Separatism in the 18th Century; The Letters of Ivan Mazepa; Habsburgs and Zaporozhian Cossacks (with L. Wynar); and, Ukrainians in North America: An Illustrated History. Please see my review of Ukrainians in North America: An Illustrated History.
Very definitely five stars plus--Ukraine: A History is very heartily recommended for personal and public libraries worldwide!
Addendum: Readers, you're invited to visit each of my reviews--most of them have photos that I took in Ukraine (over 600)--you'll learn lots about Ukraine and Ukrainians. The image gallery shows smaller photos, which are out of sequence. The preferable way is to see each review through my profile page since photos that are germane to that particular book/VHS/DVD are posted there with notes and are in sequential order.
To visit my reviews: click on my pseudonym, Mandrivnyk, to get to my profile page; click on the tab called review; scroll to the bottom of the section, and click on see all reviews; click on each title, and on the left-hand side, click on see all images. The thumbnail images at the top of the page show whether photos have notes; roll your mouse over the image to find notes posted.
Also, you're invited to visit my Listmania lists, which have materials sorted by subject matter.
Posted edited version, 6:12 pm, September 19, 2011
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. Ninety-seven black and white illustrations and photos (usually full page, sometimes as duos or panoramas) enhance the text visually and are throughout the book in groups of eight segments.
While this fourth edition is published by the University of Toronto Press in 2009 (Ukraine is independent), the first edition was published in 1988 (Ukraine was in the USSR and known as Soviet Ukraine). In his Preface to the Fourth Edition, Professor Subtelny adds a technical note: "among Ukrainians the preferred spelling of their capital's name is Kyiv. I have adopted this version. However, because this book first appeared in 1988, before the Ukrainian version was adopted, the old version, Kiev, will, unfortunately, have to be used in this publication."
A Preface to each of the four editions gives an outline of that edition's analyses. Following the main chapters are extensive Notes on each of the thirty-one chapters (pgs. 677-693); a one-page list of Abbreviations; a one-page Glossary; Illustration Credits listed on one page; Selected Readings in English (pgs. 700-734); and, an extensive Index (pgs. 735-784).
Ukraine: A History was published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Financial assistance was also received from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
A brief curriculum vitae of the author follows. Orest Subtelny is a professor in the departments of History and Political Science at York University.
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