Europe
![Serhii Plokhy - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001H6KWTU.jpg)
The Gates of Europe
A New York Times bestseller, this definitive history of Ukraine is "an exemplary account of Europe's least-known large country" (Wall Street Journal).
As Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing struggle with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence, celebrated historian Serhii Plokhy explains that today's crisis is a case of history repeating itself: the Ukrainian conflict is only the latest in a long history of turmoil over Ukraine's sovereignty. Situated between Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, Ukraine has been shaped by empires that exploited the nation as a strategic gateway between East and West-from the Romans and Ottomans to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. In The Gates of Europe, Plokhy examines Ukraine's search for its identity through the lives of major Ukrainian historical figures, from its heroes to its conquerors.
This revised edition includes new material that brings this definitive history up to the present. As Ukraine once again finds itself at the center of global attention, Plokhy brings its history to vivid life as he connects the nation's past with its present and future.
As Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing struggle with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence, celebrated historian Serhii Plokhy explains that today's crisis is a case of history repeating itself: the Ukrainian conflict is only the latest in a long history of turmoil over Ukraine's sovereignty. Situated between Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, Ukraine has been shaped by empires that exploited the nation as a strategic gateway between East and West-from the Romans and Ottomans to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. In The Gates of Europe, Plokhy examines Ukraine's search for its identity through the lives of major Ukrainian historical figures, from its heroes to its conquerors.
This revised edition includes new material that brings this definitive history up to the present. As Ukraine once again finds itself at the center of global attention, Plokhy brings its history to vivid life as he connects the nation's past with its present and future.
Editorial Reviews
"[An] exemplary account of Europe's 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
"An assured and authoritative survey that spans ancient Greek times to the present day."―Financial Times
"Readers can find no better place to turn than Plokhy's new book.... Plokhy navigates the subject with grace and aplomb."―Foreign Affairs
"[An] admirable new history.... In his elegant and careful exposition of Ukraine's past, Mr. Plokhy has also provided some signposts to the future."―Economist
"Elegantly written."―New York Review of Books
"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 Ukraine's history."―Library Journal
"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.... Plokhy's work serves as a welcome introduction to Ukraine's ethnic and national history."―Publishers Weekly
"[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 19th 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
"A masterly surveyor of Ukrainian history."―Independent (UK)
"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 Ukraine's ongoing "price of freedom" against the rapacious, destabilizing force of Russia."―Kirkus Reviews
"Complex and nuanced, refreshingly revisionist and lucid, this is a compelling and outstanding short history of the blood-soaked land that has so often been the battlefield and breadbasket of Europe."―Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
"This is present-minded history at its most urgent. Anyone wanting to understand why Russia and the West confront each other over the future of Ukraine will want to read Serhii Plokhy's reasoned, measured yet passionate account of Ukraine's historic ...
"An assured and authoritative survey that spans ancient Greek times to the present day."―Financial Times
"Readers can find no better place to turn than Plokhy's new book.... Plokhy navigates the subject with grace and aplomb."―Foreign Affairs
"[An] admirable new history.... In his elegant and careful exposition of Ukraine's past, Mr. Plokhy has also provided some signposts to the future."―Economist
"Elegantly written."―New York Review of Books
"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 Ukraine's history."―Library Journal
"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.... Plokhy's work serves as a welcome introduction to Ukraine's ethnic and national history."―Publishers Weekly
"[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 19th 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
"A masterly surveyor of Ukrainian history."―Independent (UK)
"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 Ukraine's ongoing "price of freedom" against the rapacious, destabilizing force of Russia."―Kirkus Reviews
"Complex and nuanced, refreshingly revisionist and lucid, this is a compelling and outstanding short history of the blood-soaked land that has so often been the battlefield and breadbasket of Europe."―Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
"This is present-minded history at its most urgent. Anyone wanting to understand why Russia and the West confront each other over the future of Ukraine will want to read Serhii Plokhy's reasoned, measured yet passionate account of Ukraine's historic ...
Readers Top Reviews
H. StegallHenry Sinn
Gives a more complete, nuanced history than is sometimes encountered. Rich history for the circumstances of 2022.
Janet F. GuerrinCuri
I gave up. This book is typical of the sort of history that turned me off 65 years ago. As far as I got, it was a series of names, dates, and battles with very little discussion of why these events happened. I was no more familiar with Ukraine and how it developed than when I began. A more scholarly reader would understand these sequences,but I could not remember them from one page to the next. Oh dear.
Dr. Victor S. Alpher
Back to the Greeks.....Yes, I saw remains of Greek exploration of Odessa from B.C., nicely preserved below glass on a major promenade overlooking this important port (and now Ukraine's largest port)....quite astounding. That experience prepared me for this book--for it is not only a history of Ukraine, but of this important bridge between Europe and Western and Central Asia. Well written and clear, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in more than the 20th century history if Ukraine--for which you must read Tim Snyder's book "Bloodlands" which I have also reviewed--a 20th century history of the land between Berlin and Moscow that is so coveted for it vast fertile soil and rather defenseless position between the hordes of the East and the West. Great reading.
Laura Lake
Well, it is full of information. the facts are very interesting, and they really could have you hanging on the edge of your seat. however, pretty.....scholarly? even with details about the people written about, its dry. I enjoy history, and read this type of thing for fun. I give it 4 stars for clarity, flow, and as far as a non scholar can tell, accuracy. there's a hell of a novel in here, just waiting to be written. it's just not in this book.
CRLaura LakeDr. Vict
An amazing book that details the travails of Ukraine since fifth century BC to the war of the Donbas and the annexation of Crimea. With a rich and varied past, Ukraine has lain at the center of a swirl of history as empires and nations have grown and faded upon its soil. From the Ottoman Empire, to the days of the mighty Cossacks, through the encroachment and abatement of Russian, Polish, Austrian and German forces, a history is carved out on land that ultimately is Ukraine’s.
