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  • Published: 1 December 2016
  • ISBN: 9780141980614
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 432
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

The Gates of Europe

A History of Ukraine




The definitive history of Ukraine which helps us understand the country's past and the current crisis

Located at the western edge of the Eurasian steppe, Ukraine has long been the meeting place of empires - Roman to Ottoman, Habsburg to Russian - and they all left their imprint on the landscape, the language and the people living within these shifting borders. In this authoritative book, Harvard Professor Serhii Plokhy traces the history of Ukraine from the arrival of the Vikings in the tenth century to the current Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Fascinating and multilayered, The Gates of Europe is the essential guide to understanding not just Ukraine's past but also its future.

  • Published: 1 December 2016
  • ISBN: 9780141980614
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 432
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

About the author

Serhii Plokhy

Serhii Plokhy is Professor of History at Harvard University and a leading authority on the Cold War and nuclear history. His books include the Baillie Gifford award-winner Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy, Nuclear Folly, The Gates of Europe and The Last Empire.

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Praise for The Gates of Europe

Clear and elegant... an indispensable guide to the tragic history of a great European nation

David Blair, Sunday Telegraph

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 compromised

Roger Boyes, The Times

Admirable... In his elegant and careful exposition of Ukraine's past, Mr Plokhy has also provided some signposts to the future

Economist

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

Tony Barber, Financial Times

Plokhy's 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, Plokhy's fine book should find its way to Vladimir Putin's desk, if only to show the imperialist that Ukraine itself is far from done, and will not be extinguished

Ian Bell, Herald Scotland