Historical Dictionary of Ukraine
By (author) Ivan Katchanovski, Zenon E. Kohut, Bohdan Y. Nebesio, Myroslav Yurkevich
Publication date:
11 July 2013Length of book:
968 pagesPublisher
Scarecrow PressISBN-13: 9780810878457
Although present-day Ukraine has only been in existence for something over two decades, its recorded history reaches much further back for more than a thousand years to Kyivan Rus’. Over that time, it has usually been under control of invaders like the Turks and Tatars, or neighbors like Russia and Poland, and indeed it was part of the Soviet Union until it gained its independence in 1991. Today it is drawn between its huge neighbor to the east and the European Union, and is still struggling to choose its own path… although it remains uncertain of which way to turn. Nonetheless, as one of the largest European states, with considerable economic potential, it is not a place that can be readily overlooked.
The problem is, or at least was, where to find information on this huge modern Ukraine, and since 2005 the answer has been the Historical Dictionary of Ukraine in its first edition, and now even more so with this second edition. It now boasts a dictionary section of about 725 entries, these covering the thousand years of history but particularly the recent past, and focusing on significant persons, places and events, political parties and institutions as well as more broadly international relations, the economy, society and culture. The chronology permits readers to follow this history and the introduction is there to make sense of it. It also features the most extensive and up-to-date bibliography of English-language writing on Ukraine.
The problem is, or at least was, where to find information on this huge modern Ukraine, and since 2005 the answer has been the Historical Dictionary of Ukraine in its first edition, and now even more so with this second edition. It now boasts a dictionary section of about 725 entries, these covering the thousand years of history but particularly the recent past, and focusing on significant persons, places and events, political parties and institutions as well as more broadly international relations, the economy, society and culture. The chronology permits readers to follow this history and the introduction is there to make sense of it. It also features the most extensive and up-to-date bibliography of English-language writing on Ukraine.
This second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Ukraine has been eight years in the making. Katchanovski (Univ. of Ottawa) updates the first edition, published just after the Orange Revolution, to include events from this period. This new edition expands articles on people, places, and events of post-1991 Ukraine. Aside from these much-needed updates, the original text by the highly qualified team of Zenon Kohut (Univ. of Alberta), Bohdan Nebesio (Brock Univ.), and Myroslav Yurkevich (Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press) is mostly intact. The 700-plus entries are brief, but provide basic definitions and indicate the subjects' relevance to Ukrainian history. The excellent supplemental material includes maps, a list of abbreviations, a detailed but succinct chronology, an extensive bibliography, and a series of appendixes on post-1991 Ukraine (new to this edition). Boldface type indicates that a concept is mentioned elsewhere in the text, but sparse cross-referencing may make finding some topics confusing. For example, some topics often referred to by their Ukrainian names—Holodomor, Batkyvshchina, OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists)—are listed only under English headings. This dictionary will prove useful to a wide range of scholars interested in eastern Europe, European history, and modern European politics. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers.