Ukraine Books

I bought this book hoping for a general introduction to the explosion, its causes and its aftermath. The book does contain such information, but it's buried underneath a heavy layer of technical detail that can be, at times, mind-numbingly boring. Unless you are a nuclear engineer or otherwise interested in the minutiae of the reactor's workings, I'd skip this book.

The book was a fast read. I found the information fascinating, but the author suddenly was throwing numbers at me that I didn't quite understand.
My main reason for the purchase of this book was the info for a play. The info was clear and easy to understand, (except for the numbers I.E.
40 Ci/km and 2 just above the m, the equivalent of 1,500,000Bq/m with the number 2 above the m. I guess that means to the second power) Anyway I reccommend THE LEGACY OF CHERNOBYL BY Zhores Medvedev if anyone is interested in what happened at Chernobyl. This book helped me to write the one-act play "CHERNOBYL."

This book takes you right into the Chernobyl disaster. From the bungling government and perverse incentives placed on the nuclear engineer teams which made it a disaster just waiting to happen, to the clean up, evacuation (largely also botched) and health effects of the nuclear fallout.

It is amazingly detailed. The author even discusses wind patterns during the disaster which effected what areas were worst effected by what radioactive material (as the disaster progressed the wind AND the composition of the radioactive dust changed). I can honestly say that I was never really bored even though it gets technical in places.

The author's writing style actually makes a reader feel that they are there when the Reactor explodes... not to mention (for one example out of many)sharing frustration at the government's incompetence when they delay an evacuation for half a day thereby increasing the populations poisoning over ten-fold.

Highly Recommended.

I thought this was a very good novel. I used this on several occations as a document for research papers I have wrote on the subject of Nuclear power and Chernobyl. The author is very accurate and shows the world what goes on behind the scenes.

The first half, before 1783, is excellent, but too short. The post-annexation part is more detailed, somewhat pro-Tatar and drifts a bit into standard East European opression-mongering.
The author sees the Crimea as the main market for Russian slaves sold into Turkey. (Khodarkovsky estimates 150-200 thousand between 1600 and 1650) Crimean and Nogay raiding prevented the southward expansion of Muskovy and kept the steppe clear for nomads. But Russia did expand, making raiding more difficult and thus accelerating Russian expansion until the Crimea was annexed and the steppe nomad society collapsed. This interpretation, if it is correct, needs a more thorough study, both as a major factor in Russian history and as an interesting social form in its own right.

This book follows a strict chronology: beginning with the origins of the Crimean Tatars, and then proceeding to the establishment of an independent Crimean Khanate, its later incorporation into the Ottoman Empire and then the Russian Empire, and lastly, how the Crimean Tatars had fared under Soviet rule until the late 70's, when this book was written.

I deducted one star for readability; the author has unfortunately taken a topic which is innately exciting and interesting and made it quite dry. Erik Hildiger's single chapter on the Crimean Tatars in Warriors of The Steppes: A Military History of Central Asia made me hungry for more about these people, but this work left me unsatisfied.

I deducted the second star for the book's seeming anti-Russian bias. Both the Russians and the Tatars behaved badly towards each other, of that there is no doubt. The Crimean Tatar economy for centuries was based primarily on capturing Russians and selling them into slavery. I'll let you digest that for a moment. As Ottoman power waned and Russian power grew, Russian control over the Crimea increased as well and resulted in many actions which can only be described as vengeful and petty, culminating in the tragedy of the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars to Central Asia, mainly Uzbekistan, in 1944.

So far, so good. But then the author consistently passes judgement on all unjust Russian actions, but explains away all of the unjust Tatar actions with some words to this effect: "The Tatar behavior was understandable in light of previous Russian activities, etc."

Particularly silly in this regard was the author's comment, when reporting the Soviet authorities' imposition of the Cyrillic alphabet on the Tatar language, that Cyrillic is inherently unsuitable for writing Turkic languages, but that the Latin based alphabet is. Both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets can and have been altered with the addition of additional or merely modified letters, with great success. In fact, I just checked in Gilyarevsky and Grivnin's Languages Identification Guide and find that the Tatar language, as written with Cyrillic, requires 8 additional letters - which, interestingly, is exactly how many additional letters the language required when it was written in the Arabic alphabet. Turkish, written in the Latin alphabet, uses 10 additional letters. So I think the author's contention is unfounded, and based on what I suspect is an inability to say anything positive about Russia or things Russian.

The remaining 3 stars I left for the fact that, as the previous reviewer noted, there is not much available about the Crimean Tatars in English, and the book is worth owning for its informational value, for anyone interested in Turkic peoples or steppe peoples and history more generally.

This is book is one of the few ones about Crimean Tatars published in English. Not being a russian speaker, I always have problems finding good information resources about Crimean Tatars. This book is one of the few that fills the gap.

Glantz draws extensively, but not exclusively on Soviet sources, and gives detailed strategic and operational overview of the fighting in the Don area after Stalingrad. What I appreciated most was the detail in the perspective of situations facing the Germans and Russians, and where their planning differed in both time scale and flexibility. How Manstein managed to achieve a counteroffensive move whilst STAVKA still interpreted the moves as a withdrawl to the Dnepr is instructive.

The style used in this work is slightly less exhaustive than that used in Kursk and the better for it. Best estimates for the ground forces of both sides are given, but it would have been desirable to mention air assets and sortie information also (this is hardly a criticsm as this information is almost never included in WW2 studies).

Overall one of the best works on the development of operations on the Eastern Front showing understanding of the problems facing both sides.

"From the Don to the Dnepr" is a very detailed operational account, primarily from the Russian point of view, of offensive Soviet operations on the Southern Front in the period after the encirclement of Stalingrad to the post-Kursk offensive to retake Kharkov.

As usual in Glantz's books the level of detail is very impressive, especially when one considers that, due to the age of the book, it was written with relatively less access to Soviet sources. The OBs presented, for instance, lack the thoroughness that one has come to expect in his latest books.

On the other hand, it is drier and more "professional" in approach, without the somewhat irritating flights of rethoric or use of hackneyed expressions that sometimes afflict his latest work, in special "Operation Mars" and "The Battle for Kursk". Maps are somewhat rudimentary, but much more plentiful and easier to read than in the books mentioned above.

The book is esential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Russian Front, especially as it covers in great detail a period that tends to be overshadowed by Stalingrad and Kursk.

Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that Operation Rumyantsev, the Soviet counterattack after the defeat of the German offensive at Kursk, is covered in far greater detail in this book than in his subsequent work.

unfortunately, this book, with all of its very useful info, tells only the story of russian offesnsive in the south during winter 42/43 and of the rumyantsev operation in the summer of 43. It lacks the info about the southern and southwestern fronts offensive during summer 43, not mentioning the northern part of the theather. also missed the averall race to the dneper. Not an exhausting book. And the price is too high.

I was surprised by the quality of the fiction, particularly in the first two stories. It is not about horrors, so much as it's about the human spirit faced with these horrors.

Heart wrenching, clever, humble, and cruel.

Truly the human face of Holodomor.

Although A Hunger Most Cruel contains writings on a topic of great importance, Stalin's terror famine, something seems to be lost in translation of these three Ukrainian authors' works. The major issues are all included in some form or another about Stalin's decision to encourage "voluntary" collectivization of Soviet farms, which set off a chain of events resulting in a famine that killed millions (per page 284, 7,000,000 persons). But its importance is inversely proportional to its readability. A kind of stiff, old-style writing is a constant throughout the book (though less so in the third part), separated into sections by author. My favorite story, "Lucky" Hanna, written by Olena Zvychayna, is about a wife and mother who has fled her village after being labeled a kulak (rich peasant farmer) and is later befriended by a kind woman. One day the woman tells her that she is lucky for having thus far survived the famine, not knowing the fate if Hanna's family. While sleeping outdoors one night, Hanna, her husband, and her daughter, assumed dead, are placed in a truck filled with corpses. They escape. The husband dies (she is forced to leave him). And Hannah attempts to abandon her daughter in a marketplace in hopes that a rumor she heard was true - orphaned peasant children are picked up and taken care of. Too late, she changes her mind, and so spends the rest of her life in search of her child. Common story themes: city-dwellers are largely unaware and unaffected by the famine; farmers, whose participation in collectivization of farming is supposedly voluntary, are coerced into joining collectives; government representatives go from house to house attempting to squeeze every last grain, scrap and crumb of food from the villagers and leaving them to subsist on whatever they can find: leather, bark, grass, and human flesh; in turn, farmers use ingenious methods in attempting to hide enough food to avoid death by starvation. A Hunger Most Cruel is a book of great importance. Unfortunately, it is not reader-friendly. Better: Execution by Hunger by Miron Dolot.

"A Hunger Must Cruel" is a must read for anyone interested in Eastern European history, particularly the history of Ukraine.
Surprisingly, very little information is available regarding the Great Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, but since the Ukrainian independence in 1991 the facts have started to come out. The Ukrainian famine was planned by the Soviet Union and its gang of communist ideologists, agitators, propagandists and apologists in order to destroy the Ukrainian people and their opposition to the Soviet Union. Millions of innocent men, women and children died of starvation while the Soviet NKVD/KGB shock troops destroyed crops and forcibly took food from people's homes.
The tragedy of the Ukrainian Famine rivals the Jewish Holocaust, a fact resented by some, yet it still remains largely unknown. It was deliberately suppressed during the Soviet era, and publicly denied in the U.S. by such notorious news reporters, as Walter Duranty of the NY Times, who, incredibly, won the Pulitzer Prize for his often distorted and false "news reporting". A massive drive is currently under way by Ukrainians in the U.S., Canada and Europe to posthumously strip Walter Duranty of the Pulitzer Prize he did not deserve, and the Pulitzer Committe is reviewing all the facts. No Pulitzer Prize has ever been revoked before.

This new title from Osprey really gave me a new perspective on history. I knew a great deal of the mongols and their empire before, but reading David Nicolle's book gave me loads of new information concerning this era and the details of the battle, which I never could have imagend. Nicolle and co-writer
V Shpakovsky has excelled in bringing light to this otherwise "dark" period in history with a comprahensible style of writing. The splendid illustrations by Victor Korolkov adds to the mesmorizing historical account. One is not only introduced to the Mongols, but also with the Russian and polovtsian men at arms as well, everything based on careful examinations along with the most recent archelogical findings.
I must say,that I didn't know much about the russian warriors at all, but this book really gave me an opportunity to find out more about this subject which history often seems to forget.

The battle of Kalka 1223, in which the Mongol generals Subotai and Jebei (with orders from Genghiz Khan) utterly crushed the russian military alliance, truly was one of the more decisive battles in european history, since it subsequently led to the devastating invasion of central europe in 1241. David Nicolle (and Shpakovsky) has brilliantly achieved with bringing ancient history into life, and I look forward to read more books by this author, as well as other titles from Osprey too of course.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in- and wants to learn more about the Mongols, Middle ages or just history in general.

Since there are so few books on the Mongol campaigns, even mediocre ones such as Kalka River 1223 should be appreciated. To be fair, Dr. David Nicolle, author of many Osprey titles on Medieval Warfare, has done his usual thorough research into a subject of great interest to himself and produced a sturdy synthesis. Unfortunately, Dr. Nicolle's talents lie in the realm of military archaeology, not military history, which somewhat reduces the value of this volume to military readers.

Kalka River 1223 begins with a rather lengthy 7-page section on origins of the campaign and a chronology. An interesting two-page color map depicting the Eurasian steppes' climatic zones is also provided in the introductory section. The sections on opposing commanders and armies are rather lengthy compared to other Osprey titles - a full 31 pages or one-third of the entire volume. While the section on Mongol and Russian leaders is quite good, the section on armies will only appeal to medieval armor and weapon enthusiasts. Alas, Dr. Nicolle is so enthralled with detailing seemingly every aspect of Russian and Mongol equipment that he leaves virtually no space to discuss military organization, tactics, doctrine or training. Instead, he does make some generalized comments about tactics in the following section on opposing plans, which...does not discuss opposing plans. While it is fairly obvious that the Russians sought to defeat or deter invasion and the Mongol incursion was a reconnaissance in force, surely more could have been said about objectives and strategic goals. There are a total of five 2-D maps in Kalka 1223 (Eurasian Steppes, Mongol campaigns in 1220-2, the Russian armies assemble in 1223, Movements to the Kalka River and the Mongol Withdrawal) and three 3-D "Bird's Eye View" maps of the Battle of Kalka River. Probably the best aspect of this volume is the artwork, which is a radical departure in quality and quantity from the standard Osprey format; instead of three battle scenes, there are 10 excellent illustrations (Mongol troops, Russian cavalry, Polovtsian troops, the capture of Gemyabek, Russian troops on the march, the Mongol commanders, the Mongol charge at Kalka River, the attack on the Kievan camp, the escape of Prince Mstislavic and the Mongol victory feast) by a Russian artist. These illustrations help to enliven an otherwise plodding text.

The actual account of the Battle of Kalka River is a bit hazy due to the paucity of sources - the exact location of the battle is not even known - and Dr. Nicolle covers it in less than 6 pages of text. Dr. Nicolle concludes that, "in this first clash between Mongols and Russians, Genghiz Khan's warriors had encountered an opponent who was strong militarily but who lacked the Mongols' mobility. The Russians had also shown themselves to be extraordinarily disorganized." However, the rest of the account does not support the conclusion that the Russians were defeated due to inferior tactical mobility. At the outset of the campaign, the Russians joined forces with the Turkic steppe people known as the Polovtsians who also were threatened by Mongol aggression. Dr. Nicolle points out that the Polovtsians had light and heavy cavalry that was equal in mobility to the Mongol cavalry and in the advance to the Kalka River, the Allied covering force three times defeated Mongol cavalry rearguards. Furthermore, the Allies were defeated by the shock effect of a sudden charge of Mongol heavy cavalry that crumpled the Polovtsian advance guard and spread panic throughout the Russian army. The Russians were hit at the worst moment, with the three main corps split by a river-crossing operation. Yet while ¾ of the Russian army disintegrated, it is interesting that the remaining Kievan army was able to circle its wagons and survive for three days against the entire Mongol army. The Kievans eventually surrendered when their water was exhausted, but the episode demonstrates that the Mongols had difficulty in defeating steady troops. While Nicolle correctly identifies Russian disorganization as a contributory factor, lack of unity of command and poor command control combined with poor morale were probably the main reasons for the defeat, not fancy Mongol maneuvers. Russian command and control was a joke, and due to the requirement to negotiate military plans long in advance between the various princes, the Russian army lacked flexibility or adaptability. In addition, only about 20% of the troops were trained and well-equipped soldiers, with the other 80% representing the usual un-trained peasant militia cannon fodder. When this poorly commanded and polyglot force came under sudden, severe attack most of it shattered like a rack of billiards hit by a cue ball. Russian morale was probably also undermined by operating so far from friendly territory, in the relatively unknown steppes. Nevertheless, Nicolle's narrative makes it appear that the Russian defeat was inevitable which is less than certain. Had this army been deployed behind the Dniepr River and allowed to fight a set-piece battle, it would have done better. Certainly the Mongol defeat shortly after Kalka River at the hands of the Volga Bulgars demonstrates that the Mongols were not invincible.

Kalka River 1223: Genghiz Khan's Mongols Invade Russia is an excellent overview of the first Mongol invasion of medieval Russia. It is quite different from most other Osprey books, since the majority is dedicated to the describing the armies and their weaponary. As a result the book gives one a more indepth look at aspects other than the battle. While the 40 pages or so dedicated to the armies does not do either justice, it is a very good beginning.

Where the book falls off is in the description of the battle. One would surmise that the lack of a full description is caused by the lack of information. However, this is a minor matter.

If you are looking for a book that gives you the Moscow Rus view of history, this book will not make you very happy. Also if you are looking looking for a Ukraine revisionist history view, where northern towns of the old Kyiv Rus like for example Jaroslavl (founded the Kyiv ruler Jaroslav the wise!) were some how not really Rus, you will hate this book.

I found it a fine history of Kyiv/Keiv. I recommend this as a balanced clear history. Just remember it does not try to give the revisionist view nor the imperial Moscow view.

I love to see Americans write European history. Not so much for the reason that we can't do it well as much for the reason that too often we refuse to do it well. In an age of American history scholarship dominated by revisionism, politically correct relativism, and otherwise trendy arcane trash, this brilliant analysis is like fine wine after years of Budweiser. Hamm chooses a national/ethnic context in which to tell the story of how these various peoples transformed Kiev from a forgotten backwater to the cosmopolitan capital of Ukraine. All of this took place in the matter of about 100 years--a blip on the radar screen of Kievan history. But what a century! Poles, Jews, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, the Decembrists, art, education, music, literature, commerce, war, pogroms, conflagration, disease, and revolution. It's all here, told in the perfect combination of lucidity and attention to detail as to both fascinate and instruct. Isn't every great work of history supposed to do that? I know I've come across something special when I feel like I've actually lived through a particular history after reading it. We all become residents of Kiev here. One thing that prospective readers should note: Hamm likes numbers. The book is full of statistics, but it never completely relies on them. The author always uses numbers to illustrate his point, but he never tells the story itself with numbers. Though the topic may seem to be a bit esoteric, Hamm's thesis suggests that we should consider understanding urban history as a history of people rather than of institutions and infrastructure. Wonderful stuff, even if you have no interest in Ukraine.

Hamm makes the cardinal sin when writing about Ukrainian history; he thinks Rus' and Russian are interchangable. These terms refer to two different peoples of a particular region. Kyivan Rus' refers to the Rusin people (sitll in existence today found primarily in far western Ukraine in the Carpathian mountains), not to be confused with the Russian people. Conventional Ukrainian history suggests that from the Kyivan Rus' other tribes split off some going east, some west, north and south. The tribe going east, which later formed Moscovy, came to be known as Russians. Ukrainian history, in general, is difficult to disern as a result of many decades of imposed Russian superiority which tends to cloud the scholarship on medievel Ukrainian and Russian history. Hence, we find books such as this one that adhears to the missinformation provided by Russian historians still during the time of the Soviet Union. Readers can find more reliable and historically accurate accounts on various subjects of Ukrainian history, including the Kyivan Rus', by reading authors such as, Orest Subtelny, Andrew Wilson, Paul Robert Mogocsi, Michael Hrushevsky, etc.

A very informative book, well written.
Amazon delivered it 10 days earlier than promised. Well done!

I approached Dr. Mould's book "Chernobyl Record" with some trepidation, as I read some reviews that characterized it as unabashedly pro-nuclear. However, I did not really detect such a bias. Some claim that Mould downplays the effects of radiation, but I don't see how. He uses plenty of data to support his claims, and he hardly glosses over the horrible effects of radiation. But I think I am more apt to believe his claim that Chernobyl was the "greatest psychological disaster in history," in that many of the effects in people outside the exclusion zone and the Kiev area were psychosomatic, tied to their fear of the effects of radiation. I am not trying to downplay Chernobyl's consequences, which are huge, but compared to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, its effects were less in magnitude and scope. However, even if some effects are only psychological, these too are quite sad and often as bad as the physical effects. The accident has led to economic problems in Ukraine, including high unemployment, and the displacement of a large number of people, and these factors all lead to a high rate of depression and alcoholism among many Ukrainians, including the survivors and liquidators.

"Chernobyl Record" provides an excellent inroduction to the Chernobyl accident, explaining all of the necessary terminology on radiation and nuclear reactors. However, it does kind of speed through the accident itself, and for in-depth accounts of the actual accident, one will have to look elsewhere, such as Grigori Medvedev's The Truth About Chernobyl. It is to books such as Medvedev's that one will also have to turn to for a detailed account fo the heroism of many of the firefighters and operators involved in cleaning and containing the accident.

The photos (both in color and black and white) in Mould's book are quite invaluable as well, including many of the interior of the Sarcophagus, the town of Pripyat, and of radiation victims from Chernobyl.

The biggest problem with the book is that Mould concentrates primarily on the aftermath and consequences of the accident. This inforamtion is quite helpful and relatively up-to-date (2000), but some of the data on the effects on wildlife and foodstuffs are less interesting than the human aspects of the story. However, concluding with V. Legasov's "Testament" was an excellent way of bringing the human element back into focus.

Overall, then, this book will prove indispensable for anyone interested in Chernobyl. However, as it was published in 2000, it is already outdated, since the effects of Chernobyl continue to be studied and there are plans to bulid another structure over Unit No. 4 and the Sarcophagus. Chernobyl still awaits its definitive history, but it is sad to think that so many people have forgotten Chernobyl. There are several lessons in nuclear safety to be learnt from the accident that can be extracted from this excellent book. Nuclear power is not something to be taken lightly, and this book is a sobering reminder of that fact.

Having actually met the author, I'm completely amazed by this true story. I can't imagine having to live through the experiences in which she faced with courage and hope,as well as fear. I believe everyone should read this great story of an unbelievable survival through the horrific times of the holocaust of someone who kept going and continued on to build an amazing life and create such a wonderful family. This is truly the story of the American dream and having it come true.

This is the autobiography of an East European Jewess who lived through the Holocaust in a small Transcarpathian city called Uzhorod. She does not experience life in a concentration camp or a prison, but is hidden by a Ukrainian family who tries to convert her. After the war she moved to Canada and then the USA with her husband and child.The story is told as if she is writing her memoirs to her two grandchildren. This adds a warm and personal touch to the story. The book is illustrated with eleven black-and-white photographs of family members. This is a moving tale of good people living simple good lives in exceedingly difficult times and surviving. It is a joy to read. Recommended for Holocaust scholars and those interested in the history of Transcarpathia.

The story reads like a Tom Clancey novel, but unfortunately the story is true as well as tragic. You can't help feeling the intensity,courage, joy and sadness of the characters. As a reader you quickly feel part of the story. I hope that Cap Parlier continues to write about subjects that he feels passion for. I have read other books written by the author and must say this is the best.

Well done story that does justice to the men who gave their lives to fight the worst nuclear disaster ever. The book details the exploits of two helicopter test pilots, Anatoly Grishenko and Gourgen Karapetyan. It starts out slow, showing their lives in the Soviet Union just a couple months before the Chernobyl disaster. They are not supermen or people looking to be heroes. They come off as average guys who happen to have one heck of an extraordinary job. Both are called into service to help seal the exposed reactor. Unfortunately, Anatoly develops cancer because of it. I was totally amazed at the level of dedication Gourgen had to get the help his friend needed, any way he could. Quite frankly, he took a lot of big risks doing it, since Glasnost and Perastroika were just beginning in the Soviet Union. Gourgen truly defines the meaning of the word friend by his deeds to save Anatoly. Also, can't forget the dedication of the people in the U.S. who worked to bring Anatoly to the States to get him the treatment he needs (including the book's author).

Parlier went into great detail, giving a blow-by-blow description of the Chernobyl disaster. Totally gripping! Really gave you a sense of just how catastrophic this accident was. Better than anything else I've scene or read. Also left me with an angry feeling toward the plant manager who refused to believe the worst was happening despite people literally keeling over in front of him from radiation sickness.

This is definately a story that needed to be told. Anatoly and Gourgen didn't complain or question the orders to send them over Chernobyl. They simply felt they had a job to do and they were the only ones who could do it. Good men, both of them!

This second edition of the Visual Geography Series, Ukraine in Pictures, not only covers an area much broader than just geography in its 80 pages, but it also touches on these topics: the Land; History and Government; People; Cultural Life; and the Economy.

A nice feature of Ukraine in Pictures is that it's web enhanced. Anyone needing more detailed information needs only to visit the website, and in the left-hand column click on Ukraine for quick access to: downloadable maps, a flag, and photos for reports; and, links, which correspond to the main sections in the book. The website will give students quick access to notes/instructions, report writing tips, a sample outline and tips on how to write a bibliography. There's also a section entitled Teacher Resources.

Each of the main headings in the book is enhanced with colored panoramic photos spanning two pages. Throughout, notes are highlighted; as an example: "Since becoming an independent nation in 1991, Ukrainians are changing the spellings of their cities and regions from Russian back to Ukrainian. For example, the Russian spelling of the capital city, Kiev, is slowly being replaced by the Ukrainian spelling, Kyiv. For this book, Ukrainian spellings have been used whenever available, with Russian spelling followed in parentheses."

Another example: "For much of its history, Ukraine was known as the Ukraine because it was considered to be simply an extension of the larger Russian (and later Soviet) Empire. After Ukraine became an independent nation, the government announced that the nation would be known as Ukraine to distinguish it as a separate country."

Regarding the above note on page 10 stating that "Ukraine" was known as "the Ukraine" for much of its history, please consider the following: "The name Rus was first applied to the land occupied by the tribe of the Polians, but later to the whole territory ruled by Kiev, to be at last superseded by the name Ukraine [The name Ukraine is first mentioned in the chronicles under A.D. 1187 (Editor)]." Citation: "A History of Ukraine" by Michael Hrushevsky, edited by O. J. Frederiksen, published for the Ukrainian National Association, Archon Books, Copyright 1941, by Yale University Press, reprinted 1970, pg. 40.

Also, please consider Arnold Berke's article "Ukrainian Dawn," Historic Preservation, March/April, 1993, pp. 31-32:

"Ukraine is a new country but an old nation--a fact often lost on foreigners, who remain largely ignorant of this land of fifty-two million people, Europe's second largest in area after Russia. Ukraine to them (Russians) has always been "the" Ukraine--no more than a region of its powerful northern neighbor, Russia--and Ukrainian culture a mere variation on the Russian national theme. Russians used to call Ukraine"Little Russia," a sobriquet that Tchaikovsky`s Second Symphony earned for its use of Ukrainian folk themes. Even the Ukrainian language was downgraded as a dialect of Russian, although Ukrainian differs from Russian as much as does Polish."

Although the book is called (as are others in the series) Ukraine in Pictures, the photos are used as supplements to the text rather than being a photo album with captions. For anybody wishing wonderful photo albums depicting Ukraine and Ukrainians, please see my reviews of Simply Ukraine, Lviv, Ukraine in Postcards, Kiev in Autumn Colours, and Ukraine Worldwide. I also heartily recommend Ukraine, Its History and Its Arts and Ukraine and Ukrainians--both by Peter Kardash. If they aren't available for purchase on Amazon, they usually can be obtained through libraries or through interlibrary loan.

Since so many topics are explored in only 80 pages, it stands to reason that for an in-depth education, the reader will need to investigate further. An example is mention of the famine. Famine conjures natural occurrences; Ukraine had man-made famines--genocides. Please see my reviews of Genocide in Ukraine, Harvest of Despair, the Unknown Holocaust, and Enough. Other good sources are The Encyclopedia of Ukraine (on the Internet) and Robert Conquest's book, The Harvest of Sorrow.

Features of the book include a timeline of history, currency fast facts, a description and photo of the Ukrainian flag, the national anthem, famous people (again, for a more extensive exploration, please see the website of The Encyclopedia of Ukraine), sights to see, glossary, selected bibliography, and further reading and websites. There are good references listed such as: Professor Orest Subtelny's book Ukraine: A History (the book's bibliography misspells his name as Subtleny), Kyiv Post (on the Internet), Ukrainian World Congress, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, and Robert Conquest's book, The Harvest of Sorrow.

One of the bibliography entries needs a word of caution. Please read my review of Anna Reid's book Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine. Although it's mentioned in the selected bibliography, I found her book to be extremely biased and anti-Ukrainian.

Regarding the description of Cossacks by Anna Reid on pg. 23 where she compares them to cowboys, I do believe that she takes Professor Subtelny's (Ukraine: A History) quote out of context. Here are, in part, his words: "But nowhere did these "peripheral" classes come to play such a central role in their respective societies as did the Cossacks in Ukraine. Of course, one could expect frontiersmen to be all-important in a frontier society like Ukraine. And the Polonization of the Ukrainian elite drew the Ukrainian Cossacks into a role that was fulfilled elsewhere by the nobles. Consequently, the Cossack became a key figure not only in the history of Ukraine but also in Ukrainian consciousness. Today the image of the Cossack is to Ukrainians what the cowboy is to Americans or the Viking to the Scandinavians. The growing importance of the Cossacks was accompanied by renewed vigor in Ukrainian religious and cultural life."

Please consider the following: Ukrainians don't consider Cossacks (Kozaks) to be cowboys! In my review of the video entitled, "Ukraine: Ancient Crossroads, Modern Dreams," I quote from the movie: In one segment, the narrator explains that "Kozaks did more than fight and dance, they also financed the building of many churches...the Kozaks brought many fine churches and other developments to the region, but, perhaps, their most important achievement was holding off the bondage of serfdom..." The video is available through interlibrary loan--it is a must-see video.

The Encyclopedia of Ukraine describes Cossacks as: "By the end of the 15th century the name acquired a wider sense and was applied to those Ukrainians who went into the steppes to practice various trades and engage in hunting, fishing, beekeeping, the collection of salt and saltpeter, and so on.

The history of the Ukrainian Cossacks has three distinct aspects: their struggle against the Tatars and the Turks in the steppe and on the Black Sea; their participation in the struggle of the Ukrainian people against socioeconomic and national-religious oppression by the Polish magnates; and their role in the building of an autonomous Ukrainian state. The important political role played by the Ukrainian Cossacks in the history of their nation distinguishes them from the Russian Cossacks."

The cover left me a bit puzzled, since it isn't what would come to mind when thinking of Ukraine. For future editions, if searching for the unusual, perhaps covers with: woodcuts or etchings by Ukrainian born painter and sculptor Jacques Hnizdovsky (America's greatest woodcut artist), trembita players in the Carpathian Mountains (a trembita is a Ukrainian alpine horn made of wood), or Ukrainian dancers.

Ukraine in Pictures is worth first reading and then exploring in greater depth. Caution must be used, however, to ensure sources aren't biased.--Mandrivnyk, Arlington Heights, Illinois.

I was actually hoping for a "coffee table book" with lots of glossy pictures of Ukraine. This is more like a research book for teens doing school papers, and it would be great for that. There are quite a few pictures but they are mostly small. It does give a good overview of the country (history, culture, economy, etc.) and is up to date (copyright 2006 with a weblink to get current stats). I bought it for my husband (who traveled to Ukraine twice this year) just to fill in some background and history. He breezed through it on the plane and liked it. It is not a travel guide and the maps are very general.