2000: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Books: a banner year for Ukrainian topics

Several new books on Ukrainian topics, many of them by Ukrainian authors, were published this year and aimed at the general public. Most of these books are about Ukraine's history, three of them about Ukraine's most recent history since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and one about immigrants to Canada.

Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk's groundbreaking book "Searching for Place: Ukrainian Displaced Persons, Canada and the Migration of Memory" is a significant contribution to Ukrainian immigration history.

Originally intended as a study of refugee migration, Dr. Luciuk's meticulously documented research study emerged as a comprehensive political history of Ukrainian Canadians as it navigated the realities in Canada and Ukraine over some 100 years.

"Searching for Place" contains a fascinating historical overview of the situation in Ukrainian Canadian community prior to the second world war, especially the socio-political and religio-cultural developments that led to the establishment of various reading rooms (chytalni) and national homes (narodni domy) and other organizations.

Dr. Luciuk's book demolishes many myths regarding Ukrainian Canadian history. First among them is the myth that Ukrainians were well-treated in Canada and have nothing to complain about. Other myths include: the idea that thousands of "Nazi collaborators" snuck into Canada by claiming to be DPs and victims of the war; the notions that Ukrainians were encouraged to retain their ethnic identity as a community in Canada; and the fantasy that Canada and other Western governments were sympathetic to Ukraine's liberation.

The Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute published Kostiantyn Morozov's book "Above and Beyond: From Soviet General to Ukrainian State Builder." The book traces Mr. Morozov's family history, early years and military career. He talks honestly and with emotion, as a former Soviet pilot and general officer, about military life and the Communist Party's intervention in the armed forces.

The turning point of the book is Mr. Morozov's narrative of the August 1991 putsch. He provides a detailed account of what he and others did at the time, and of the events that led Leonid Kravchuk to choose him to be Ukraine's first defense minister. Gen. Morozov became the man responsible for managing the huge Soviet armed forces' presence on Ukrainian soil and somehow peacefully transforming it into a Ukrainian military.

"Above and Beyond" ends with the high point of Mr. Morozov's work as defense minister: the oath of loyalty drive of spring 1992. Mr. Morozov provides further narration in three extensive photo collections ranging from his early life to Ukraine's emergence onto the world arena.

Ania Savage's new book "Return to Ukraine," published by Texas A&M University Press, also speaks of post-putsch Ukraine. In the memoir billed as "one woman's journey to the country of her past," Ms. Savage weaves together the complex story of the fate of Ukrainians during the second world war and the Soviet takeover. As she captures the post-putsch days, she also recreates the terror imposed on the population, decades earlier, at the time of the executions of the men and women of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

The book is courageous within the Ukrainian American setting due to the interjection of a personal relationship of the author with her mother, Anna Bojcun. The personal aspect makes the experiences come alive for the American reader and provides a wonderful introduction for those not familiar with the intricacies of being Ukrainian.

"... Going back became one of the highlights of my life," Ms. Savage writes. "I was lucky to be in Ukraine during a time history will remember. I saw centuries of history being relived, re-examined and reordered. Men and women on the streets walked, smiling and elated, rejoicing at the end of tyranny."

Another book about Ukrainian history is Anna Reid's "Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine," which was released in the United States by Westview Press in mid-1999. The book tells the story of Ukraine through the eyes of its citizens.

Ms. Reid, a British journalist, worked as the Kyiv correspondent for The Economist and the Daily Telegraph for several years. In compiling this book the author spoke with villagers, politicians, political dissidents, Ukrainians, Jews, Russians, survivors of both the Great Famine of 1932-1933 and the Holocaust, and others.

In "Borderland," Ms. Reid delves into Ukraine's history, from its beginnings as Kyivan Rus' to the wartime years and the recent past, and uncovers differing perceptions of history that influence its present. As noted on the book's jacket, "... the book explores Ukraine's struggle to rebuild its national identity, an identity that faces up to a bloody past, and embraces all the people within its borders."

The Financial Times reviewed the book saying, "A beautifully written evocation of Ukraine's brutal past and its shaky efforts to construct a better future ... Reid succeeds in vividly conjuring up dozens of little-known heroes and villains of Ukrainian history. ... 'Borderland' is a tapestry woven of the stories of all of its inhabitants, recording their triumphs and their conflicts with the fairness of a compassionate outsider."

And then this fall, The New York Times Book Review called Ukrainian-Canadian Chrystia Freeland's new book, "Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism," "one of the finest works of journalism on post-Soviet Russia."

Alberta-born Ms. Freeland is the deputy editor of The Globe and Mail, one of two of Canada's national newspapers and she is the former Kyiv-based correspondent for The Economist where she covered Ukraine's transition toward independence in 1991-1993.

Writing about Ms. Freeland's book, Robert D. Kaplan of The New York Times said, "In an often witty, savvy style that demonstrates a thorough knowledge of economics and Russian society, [Ms. Freeland] has reconstructed the inside story of how Russia was undermined by a new establishment composed of ogliarchs and reformers, each of whom needed the other."

In September, the Ukrainian Institute of America held a book signing and lecture by Ms. Freeland. Also, this year Ms. Freeland was recognized as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. In November she addressed the Canadian Institute of International Affairs in Ottawa.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 7, 2001, No. 1, Vol. LXIX

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