Serhii Plokhy - The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine

[An] exemplary account of Europes least-known large country one of the joys of reading the The Gates of Europe is that what might seem a dense account of distant events involving unfamiliar places and people is leavened by aphorism and anecdote.Wall Street Journal

Elegantly written.New York Review of Books

An assured and authoritative survey that spans ancient Greek times to the present dayFinancial Times

[An] admirable new history. Belief in Ukraines history of tolerance and legality, rooted in European Christian civilization, keeps hope alive. In his elegant and careful exposition of Ukraines past, Mr. Plokhy has also provided some signposts to the future.Economist

No one can understand todays sad, tangled confrontation over Ukraine without some knowledge of the complex, crosscutting influences that have shaped Eastern Europe over the millennia. For that history, readers can find no better place to turn than Plokhys new book. Plokhy navigates the subject with grace and aplomb.Foreign Affairs

Serhii Plokhys major distinction from his predecessors is that he has interpreted the history of Ukraine applying the modern concept of national identity, which is still not widely familiar in post-Soviet republics.Newsweek

A concise, highly readable history of Ukraine. A lively narrative peopled with a colorful cast of Norse and Mongol marauders, free-booting Cossacks, kings, conquerors, and dictators, and conflicted nineteenth-century intellectuals who believed fervently in a Ukrainian cultural identity but were fatally divided as to how that cultural identity could evolve into national entity.Washington Times

Buy this book. Give copies to your children and grandchildren. Buy copies for your friends. Make sure they read it.Ukrainian Weekly

Clear and elegant. An indispensable guide to the tragic history of a great European nationSunday Telegraph (UK)

A fast-moving history, full of prompts and nuggets. A strong rebuttal of the arrogant assumptions of the Putin court that Ukraine, though intrinsically part of the greater Russian nation, is culturally inferior, weaker, and compromisedTimes (UK)

The Gates of Europe take us back to the time of Herodotus to tell the tangled story of [Ukraines] long struggle to win control over its own destiny.Sunday Times (UK)

A masterly surveyor of Ukrainian history, Plokhy does not belabor the many horrors he describes; he doesnt have to, grim facts speak for themselves.Independent (UK)

Plokhys careful, engaging history is a series of stories about a spectral nation, one that has appeared and disappeared down the ages. If sense ever prevails, Plokhys fine book should find its way to Vladimir Putins desk, if only to show the imperialist that Ukraine itself is far from done, and will not be extinguishedHerald Scotland (UK)

Plokhy is at his best when describing the Ukrainian Cossacks, free men of what remained of the untamed steppe.Spectator (UK)

Most comprehensive.Literary Review (UK)

[A] formidable account of Ukrainian history.History Today (UK)

The Gates of Europe details the enduring conflict for territory and identity between Russia and Ukraine, [and] deconstructs more than 2,000 years of history and how it came to this.Toronto Star (Canada)

A comprehensive, unbiased history.Winnipeg Free Press (Canada)

Very readable, providing a compelling story of a country destined as a crossroad for peoples, armies, cultures, and civilizations.Russian Review

A fascinating and complex story told concisely.Russian Life

Plokhys publication is not solely an academic work as it seeks to tackle some of the questions that are currently being raised in the geopolitical debate, including whether Ukraine belongs to the Russian world.New Eastern Europe (Poland)

The Gates of Europe is a well-balanced book, one in which the authors voice and opinion do not dissolve in the mire of middle ways between controversial topics and well-known facts.H-Diplo

Injecting appropriate nuance and complexity into a single-volume overview of 2,000 years of Ukrainian history is no small task, but Plokhy approaches this charge with dexterity and skill. Plokhys work serves as a welcome introduction to Ukraines ethnic and national history.Publishers Weekly

The timeframe and subjects covered here are extraordinary. Students, academics, and readers with a general knowledge of Ukraine will appreciate. Alternatively, chapters can be read independently, allowing those with a strong interest in the subject to focus on a specific era of Ukraines history.Library Journal

A sympathetic survey of the history of Ukraine along the East-West divide, from ancient divisions to present turmoil. A straightforward, useful work that looks frankly at Ukraines ongoing price of freedom against the rapacious, destabilizing force of Russia.Kirkus Reviews

For a comprehensive, engaging, and up-to-date history of Ukraine one could do no better than Serhii Plokhys aptly titled The Gates of Europe. Plokhys authoritative study will be of great value to scholars, students, policy-makers, and the informed public alike in making sense of the contemporary Ukrainian imbroglio.