Customer Reviews

Ukraine: An Illustrated History

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Author Paul Robert Magocsi, Ph.D., an acclaimed scholar, emphasizes the multicultural nature of Ukraine throughout her history rather than limiting his study to an examination of Ukraine's numerically largest population--ethnic Ukrainians. All other peoples who've lived or who live within the borders of present-day Ukraine are also analyzed: Russians, Poles, Crimean Tatars, Jews, Germans (including Mennonites), and Greeks, among others. Political, economic, and cultural developments in Ukraine are examined, which makes Ukraine: An Illustrated History not only a reference resource for European area and Slavic studies specialists, but also makes it one which will appeal to people wishing an easy-to read/easy-to-understand informational reference.

Paul Robert Magocsi, Ph.D., is Professor of History and Political Science at the University of Toronto (since 1980), permanent Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (since 1996), and member of the Canadian Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences. Professor Magocsi is the President of the World Congress of Rusyns and author of many books on Rusyn history. He holds the chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Toronto. Born in New Jersey, Dr. Magocsi completed his undergraduate studies at Rutgers University (B.A., 1966; M.A., 1967) and graduate studies at Princeton University (M.A., 1969; Ph.D., 1972). He then went to Harvard University, where he was a member of the Society of Fellows between 1973 and 1976. Professor Magocsi has taught at Harvard University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The dust jacket illustration is a monument to the legendary founders of Kyiv along the shores of the Dnipro River. According to a widely known legend, Kyiv was founded by three brothers, Kyy, Shchek, Khorev, and their sister, Lybid, in 482. Kyy, the prince of the Slavic tribes of Polians, is considered the city founder, and it's for him that the city is named. Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine, and 'was the capital city of the mighty state of Kyivan Rus-Ukraine and the seat of the Ukrainian Orthodox Metopolitanate.' The apropos jacket design is by Katherine Patton. University of Toronto Press printed and bound this volume in Toronto, Buffalo, and London in 2007. This volume was published in the United States by University of Washington Press in Seattle.

The back of the dust jacket provides two endorsements. Dr. Serhy Yekelchyk, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Victoria, provides one endorsement: "This is a magisterial introduction to the history of Ukraine. Combining excellent maps with an erudite historical narrative, Professor Magocsi's new work is a tour de force. He offers a wealth of data, makes sound judgments on controversial issues, and guides the reader through almost two millennia in the space of 350 (sic, 336) pages."

Another endorsement is from a colleague, Dr. Serhii Plokhii, Department of History, Harvard University, who writes: "There is a strong need in the English-speaking world for a short history of Ukraine--something that visitors could take along on a trip, or that high school and university students could use in their classes. Professor Magocsi has fulfilled that need with this well-written, generally balanced, and informative survey of Ukrainian history."

Wholeheartedly I concur with both Professors Yekelchyk and Plokhii. Additionally, this large-sized illustrated history is easy to read and digest; the placement of photos and illustrations (which are a decent size) enhance the generally balanced history of Ukraine, which is presented in an engaging, engrossing style.

Heartily recommended, each page of Ukraine: An Illustrated History has at least one or two, sometimes an entire page of black-and-white illustrations, images, line drawings, maps, portraits, and reproductions of books and art works. Many of the images are unique to this book; all of them are captioned with informative details. Indeed, this volume is an illustrated history of Ukraine, and the title and contents complement each other. Since all of the illustrations and images are in black-and-white, there is a continuity throughout the book; it would have been nice, however, to have had some of the photos appear in color.

For those wishing to see Ukraine's history depicted via color images, outstanding supplements to Professor Magocsi's Ukraine: An Illustrated History and also to Professor Subtelny's Ukraine: A History, are books by Peter Kardash, Ukrainian-Australian activist and author of Ukraine: Its History and Its Arts (see my review) and Ukraine and Ukrainians (see my review). In his 1988 book, Ukraine and Ukrainians, Kardash states that: "Soviet authorities did not take kindly to photographs being made of buildings and monuments with a history rooted in the Ukrainian national consciousness, so some were taken at great risk." Both books contains a treasure trove of color photos that are rarely encountered in other books--and all are captioned with informative details. My Listmania list entitled "Guaranteed Outstanding--Fortuna Company" has links to books mentioned above. Additionally, outstanding color photography is showcased in Simply Ukraine (see my review) by Ukrainian-American photographer Tania D'Avignon, who has worked for National Geographic Magazine.

The Contents page of Dr. Magocsi's monograph includes: a List of 16 Tables, List of 46 full-page Historical Maps, a one-page Introduction, 46 chapters, a 23-page Index, and a four-page Illustration Sources and Credits section.

Financial assistance was received from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. The book was published with the help of grants from the Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation in Toronto, and from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Also, the University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada, through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).

Five stars plus for an informative pictorial history of Ukraine with over 300 large, captioned images and informative, easy-to-read historical references, which put Ukraine's history into clear context. Undoubtedly, this book will be referenced often not only for its illustrations, but also for its succinct, objective text. For a more detailed text, refer to Professor Orest Subtelny's monograph, Ukraine: A History. The author of this book, Dr. Magocsi, described Dr. Subtelny's book (please see my review) in the Journal of Ukrainian Studies as "an excellent history of Ukrainians." Both books superbly supplement each other, both deserve to be on your library shelves, and both books together will fulfill your quest for an impartial history of Ukraine.

As a supplement to the historic photos in Professor Magocsi's excellent book, Ukraine: An Illustrated History, you're invited to view some of my photos of Ukraine; as an example, I've posted 92 images from my trips to Ukraine on the product detail page of A History of Ukraine by Hrushevsky, which is another excellent reference (please see my review).

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, you're invited to visit my Listmania lists, which have materials sorted by subject matter.