The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine Paperback – 1 Dec. 2016

The historiography of Russia and to some extent Poland are extensive, reflecting the crucial historical and political dominance of the first and the important role of the second country in European affairs. Ukraine by comparison, the second largest European country after Russia, seems to be the voiceless orphan, suffering from the Historians’ neglect, often denied historical definition or wrongly assimilated to its big Russian neighbour. It’s history is complex and like many of its Eastern European neighbours tragic, particularly during the last century and the present one. Even its name as a polity was transformed over the centuries from Kievan Rus to Cossack Hetmanate, from little Russia or Ruthenia to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Ukrainians were described as Ruthenians, or little Russians. It took the recent brutal conflict to propel the Ukraine into our conscience and to focus our minds on the profound chasm separating it from its Russian neighbour.The complexity of its history arises from its geographical location at the gates of Europe, its partition and absorption by different Empires. It was crossed and occupied by many invaders from the East; the Scythians, the Sarmatians, the Huns, the Khazars , the Pechenegs, the Mongols hordes and the Tartar tribes, but also from the North with the Vikings ( Varingians) who established the first dynasty of Kievan Rus, until their state was destroyed by the Golden Horde in 1240. Its proximity to the Black Sea exposed its lands first to the small Greek settlements, then to the Byzantine Greek cultural influence who converted its inhabitants to Orthodox Christianity, followed by the Ottomans who attempted to subjugate them into vassalage. Its historical Destiny since the 14th Century, was bound to the large Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, but never accepted as a third equal member. As a result its small scattered urban population and elites were exposed to the Catholic and Westernising influences brought from Poland. The creation of a separate minority Greek Catholic Church, divided from mainstream Greek Orthodox Church, intensified religious antagonism and cultural polarisation in theses lands, divided geographically by the great Dnieper river. The Polish Lithuanian landowner nobility supported by a more advanced urbanised Polish society exploited its Orthodox peasantry. This culminated in a number of rebellions spearheaded by a free martial peasantry, the Cossacks. Living along the Dnieper river, and jealous of their rights and privileges , they launched numerous rebellions against the Poles, often allied but also betrayed by the Tartars of the Crimean Khanate. Eventually an autonomous Cossack Hetmanate (1649-1764) was founded. It was ruled by Khmelnytsky and his heirs, but fell under the tutelage of the newly formed Russian Czardom, the rulers of the Muscovy principality. It was an unfortunate compromise to safeguard the autonomy of its Orthodox peasant communities and guard against the interference of the Polish Lithuanians and the Ottomans.The tragic aspects of this historical journey are rooted in the subjugation and partition of what became Ukraine between successive Empires; the Mongol, the Polish-Lithuanian, the Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian, the Russian and the Soviet. Treated as a vassal or a colony to be exploited; its linguistic and cultural identity denigrated. Alternatively as a junior member of a larger entity in Tsarist Russia and its successor the Soviet Union, patronised and dominated by a ruling elite from the larger nation. Its lands throughout the 20th Century were exposed to extensive devastation and destruction, first during the First World War, followed by the bloody Civil war after the Bolshevik Revolution , then the Russian Polish wars of 1920’s. But the greatest tragedy inflicted on its population happened during the Stalinist brutal collectivisation of agriculture and the requisitioning of grain in the mid 1930’s leading to the genocidal famine that killed millions, the so called ”Holodomor”. More atrocities were perpetrated during the German Nazi invasion and occupation. Followed by further famines after the war due to mismanagement of agriculture during Khrushchev.The final chapters shed light on the events that led to the dismantling of the Soviet Union, the independence of the Ukraine and its people’s struggle as they grappled with the newly found democracy, and the encroachments of Putin’s Russia, bent on reviving the Tsarist Empire.The author shows unusual historical objectivity and scholarly authority, yet his narrative is passionate without emotionalism, even as he describes the recent tragic events of his country. It was written just before the Russian invasion. An important book to explain the present.

well written but detailed helps with understanding Ukraine and Russia. Big read

Interesting book especially in view of current war in Ukraine. Well worth reading

An incredibly detailed book with a vast amount of information inside it.

The book includes a huge amount of compehensive history, taking you from the very beginning of Ukrainian history up to the modern era, and yet it is easily digestible. Some history books can bog you down in details and be very dry to read. I had zero issue with this. In fact I had to purposely stop myself reading. Highly recommend.

I bought this book to gain some much-needed background information on Ukraine (considering what's currently going on), and the author certainly provides an overview of Ukrainian history - for that, three stars. The problem is that historiography, ie the writing of history, is not just about the facts or dates or context - I can't fault the author for any of that, he did his job. The problem is that the style and delivery are really boring; there's almost no colour, quotes, or really anecdotes that would bring the topic (a whole country with a rich history) to life.I'm passionate about history and don't mind scholarly tomes, but this book proved to be a slog. I finished it only because it felt virtuous and worthy. Another consideration is that the author makes a strong argument for Ukraine's separate (from Russia) identity, with is a counter-argument to Russian propaganda focused on Novorossia/New Russia, and he succeeds in that. Meanwhile, he fails to deliver context on controversial figures such as Stepan Bandera. Going by this book, I know he existed and was important, but there's no context or insight given at all. All in all, I'm glad I read it, I'm better informed, lots of stuff is still missing, and I'm not ever going to read this again.

Good read but the print is frustratingly so very small. Hate that.