A History of Ukraine [Hardcover]

Michael (Mykhailo) Hrushevsky (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 647 pages
• Publisher: Archon (August 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0208009671
• ISBN-13: 978-0208009678
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,796,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Oustanding Volume on Ukrainian History!, January 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A History of Ukraine (Hardcover)

If you're lucky enough to find this terrific 629 p. volume, published by Yale University Press way back in 1941, and since reprinted, even in translation, you will be rewarded with a first rate account of Ukrainian history by the legendary Ukrainian scholar and patriot, Michael Hrushevsky, who died in 1934 as a result of his imprisonment by the Soviet authorities. It's authoritative, scholarly and very readable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of Ukraine by "the most distinguished Ukrainian historian" provides objective, accurate information--an enthralling read, March 1, 2010

By 

Yaroslava Benko "Mandrivnyk" (Arlington Heights, IL - USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of Ukraine (Hardcover)

As background on why Mykhailo Hrushevsky's A History of Ukraine is such an important tome, it's important to at least be familiar with his academic and professional credentials. Mykhailo Hrushevsky (1866-1934) was born in Kislovodsk, North Caucasus krai, RSFSR. He was the "most distinguished Ukrainian historian; principal organizer of Ukrainian scholarship, prominent civic and political leader, publicist, and writer; member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society from 1894, the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences from 1923, and the USSR Academy of Sciences from 1929." His father was a pedagogue and a Slavist. In 1869, his family moved to Caucasia, where Hrushevsky graduated from the classical gymnasium in 1886. While still there, he began to write belles-lettres in Ukrainian. In 1890, Hrushevsky graduated from the Historical-Philological Faculty at Kyiv University; there, he was a student of Volodymyr Antonovych (historian, archeologist, archeographer, professor of history at Kyiv University from 1878, editor-in-chief of the publications of the Kyiv Archeographic Commission, patron and head [from 1881] of the Historical Society of Nestor the Chronicler in Kyiv, and organizer of archeological conferences in Ukraine). Much more detailed biographical information on both Mykhailo Hrushevsky and on Volodymyr Antonovych is available on the website of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine.

Hrushevsky published, perhaps, his most important essay in 1904. In that article, he traced Ukraine's history and that of the Ukrainian people to the period of Kyivan Rus--"he argued that the history of the Ukrainian nation is distinct from that of the Russian both in its origin and in its political, economic, and cultural development" (translations appeared in English in 1952 and in German in 1935). Most Russian historians rejected Hrushevsky's argument (they "believed that the modern Russian state was the only direct descendant of Kyivan Rus and did not accept that the Ukrainian nation had developed as a result of a separate and unique history"). Nevertheless, most Ukrainian historians including those in Soviet Ukraine (until 1929) accepted, with some changes, Hrushevsky's scheme and periodization of Ukraine's history, as did the emigration.

Following a brief stay in Saint Petersburg, Hrushevsky returned to Kyiv. In 1907, he cofounded the Ukrainian Scientific Society, which was modeled on the Shevchenko Scientific Society. In the fall of 1914, during the First World War, he was arrested, imprisoned in Kyiv for two months, and exiled to Simbirsk, then to Kazan, and finally to Moscow. He continued his scholarly work despite his repression. After the February Revolution of 1917, he was released from exile and emerged as the leader of the Ukrainian national revolution. The Central Rada elected him chairman on March 17, 1917 while he was still in Moscow. And, it was under his direction, that the Central Rada became the revolutionary parliament of Ukraine. Hrushevsky was elected president of the Central Rada of the Ukrainian National Republic on April 29, 1918, which was overthrown when Pavlo Skoropadsky led a coup d'état. Hrushevsky's involvement in government ended then, although he continued his political activities.

Hrushevsky's professor Volodymyr Antonovych, as well as Mykola Kostomarov, Mykhailo Drahomanov, and E. Durkheim had a great influence on the formation of his historical approach. A member of the populist school of Ukrainian historiography (which stressed the primacy of social or popular interests over that of the nation and of the state), Hrushevsky later began to attach "more importance to the state and the political development of the Ukrainian nation. Hrushevsky rejected the Normanist theory of early Ukrainian history and considered the Antes the predecessors of the Ukrainian nation. Elements of his historical scheme were adopted by some non-Ukrainian historians such as Aleksandr Presniakov, Matvii Liubavsky, and Oskar Halecki."

Copyrighted in 1941 by Yale University Press, Hrushevsky's, A History of Ukraine, was reprinted with permission for the Ukrainian National Association by Archon Books in 1970 in an unaltered and unabridged edition. O. J. Frederiksen edited the volume very aptly. Professor George Vernadsky wrote the scholarly preface. This one-volume tome represents the cooperative efforts of several persons, and specific acknowledgments are made to: Wasyl Halich, Omelian Revyuk, Dr. Luke Myshuha, Stephen Shumeyko, Professor O. J. Frederiksen of Miami University, Ohio, and Professor George Vernadsky of Yale University.

As Professor Vernadsky advises in his preface written in 1941, although there were, at the time, publications in English dealing with Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Balkan countries, at the time of publication of A History of Ukraine, there remained an important gap--Ukraine. Although Ukrainians are the second largest Slavic nation, there remained a lack of knowledge concerning Ukrainians and Ukraine. To stress that not only was there a paucity of knowledge, but also of erroneous conceptions, Professor Vernadsky cited an example: "people used to speak for example of the annexation of `Eastern Poland' to `Russia,' not realizing that the country in question is neither Poland nor Russia proper but Ukraine."

I've included a four-page table of contents and a listing of the four maps which are included in this tome, which may be accessed from the product detail page.

Professor Hrushevsky's, A History of Ukraine, is written in an enthralling style, which renders it difficult to put down. The script is informative, the writing style is easy to read and comprehend, and the volume is enhanced with maps to visually present the information. The index (pages 601-629) attests to the multitude of entries covered. The history of Ukraine is rendered via an accurate, impartial portrayal of events. Very highly recommended, this tome is definitely five stars plus!

Addendum: To augment visually the text of Professor Hrushevsky, I've posted on the product detail page nearly one hundred photos that I've taken throughout Ukraine in 1993 and 1994.

Additionally, Readers, you're invited to visit each of my reviews--most of them have photos that I took in Ukraine (over 600)--you'll learn lots about Ukraine and Ukrainians. The image gallery shows smaller photos, which are out of sequence. The preferable way is to see each review through my profile page since photos that are germane to that particular book/VHS/DVD are posted there with notes and are in sequential order.

To visit my reviews: click on my pseudonym, Mandrivnyk, to get to my profile page; click on the tab called review; scroll to the bottom of the section, and click on see all reviews; click on each title, and on the left-hand side, click on see all images. The thumbnail images at the top of the page show whether photos have notes; roll your mouse over the image to find notes posted.

Also, please visit my Listmania lists, which have materials sorted by subject matter.