It has been over four months since Ukraine’s EuroMaidan Revolution became a leading story in international media. As separatist conflicts in the country’s east escalate, Ukraine's story is now moving onto bookshelves worldwide. Recently, international publishing houses have published several books about Ukraine. Authors from the U.S., Europe, and Canada have explored recent developments in Ukraine and shared their opinions on the situation.
Putin’s Wars: The Rise of Russia’s New Imperialism
Marcel H. Van Herpen’s book Putin’s Wars: The Rise of Russia’s New Imperialism was published two days before Russian military forces invaded Crimea. In this book, Van Herpen, a Dutch politician and specialist on defense and security issues in the former Soviet Union, predicts the Russian annexation of Crimea and further developments in eastern Ukraine.
“Van Herpen’s work is incisive: he persuasively argues that the Russian Federation seeks to expand its control over much of the former Soviet empire,” says Hall Gardner, author of NATO Expansion and US Strategy in Asia.
Despite the book’s success, the author is disappointed that his thesis was prophetic. “I feel very sad because I can foresee much more military Anschluss on the Kremlin’s agenda,” Van Herpen told the Kyiv Post.
Author: Marcel H. Van Herpen
Price: $ 32.95
Published on Feb. 27, 2014
Available to order here.
Your Home and Mine
Your Home and Mine, an epistolary novel from Bethany Foster, is composed of a series of letters written by Forster to her Ukrainian pen pal, Daryna L. Their correspondence details the EuroMaidan revolution through Daryna’s eyes.
Forster, a 22-year old secretary at a publishing company in Oregon and a freelance writer, writes under the pseudonym Ruth H. Her Ukrainian pen pal’s real name is Khrystyna. She is 15 and lives in western Ukraine. The girls met last July, when Forster visited Ukraine. “The pen names Daryna L. and Ruth H. were originally created to ensure Khrystyna’s safety during Maidan protests,” Forster said.
Author: Ruth H.
Price $1.10
Published on Jan. 29, 2014
Available to order here.
Rising for Freedom and Democracy in Ukraine
Brine Books, a Canadian publishing house, has gathered pictures, thoughts, theories, and investigations of the EuroMaidan Revolution in an attempt to figure out what actually happened on the Maidan. Rising for Freedom and Democracy in Ukraine describes the protests and struggles that transformed Ukraine from December 2013 to February 2014, as well as on the people on both sides of the revolutionary barricades. The documentary-style book takes a photo-centric view of the events in Ukraine, with over 200 pictures by Ukrainian photojournalists.
Author and Publisher: Brine Books Publishing, Canada.
Price 12-32$
Published on Feb. 2, 2014
Available to order here.
Ukraine’s Identity Crisis: Understanding the Protests
In Ukraine’s Identity Crisis: Understanding the Protests, professor Peter Rutland of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut takes a look at the roots of Ukraine’s most recent revolution. In this book, the author argues that the search for a Ukrainian national identity drove the EuroMaidan Revolution.
Rutland’s analysis takes into account the historical legacy of the Soviet Union in Ukraine, contemporary Russia’s influence on Ukraine, as well as the role that nationalism has played in the formation of modern Ukraine.
Author: Peter Rutland
Price $5.99
Published on March 5, 2014
Available to order here.
EuroMaidan: 2013 Ukraine Pro-European Union Protests
In another Ukraine-focused novel, EuroMaidan: 2013 Ukraine Pro-European Union Protests, American writer James Stryker attempts to understand the underlying impulses behind the EuroMaidan Revolution. The book analyzes the history of the Maidan, beginning with the first student protests on the night of Nov. 21.
Author: James Stryker
Published: Dec 3, 2013
Price: $22
