Borderland: A Journey Through the History of the Ukraine

A tight, clean, and unmarked copy-" Inspired and informed by the author's own experiences in Ukraine, this is a history of a politically and culturally rich collection of borderlands. The word Ukraine means borderland and, for most of its history, the lands that makeup Ukraine has been a collection of other countries borders. Split between Russia and Poland in the 18th century, between Austria and Russia in the 19th century, and between Russia, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia between World War I and II, before being swallowed whole by the Soviet Union in 1945, Ukrainians have never, until 1991, known anything approaching a state of their own.- Borderland is a very well-researched account of Ukraine's very complex history. In several places, the prose draws the reader into the author's experience of her time in Ukraine conducting her research in interesting ways. However, the parts of the book that delve deeply into the present nation's disjointed and constantly changing territorial governance over past centuries can be confusing, and not for the faint of heart. But if you want to better understand why Russia believes Ukraine to be part of its own territory, and the varied attitudes of modern Ukrainians about their cultural heritage, you will find answers in this book."