BOOK NOTES: Soon-to-be-released Volume 9 of "History of Ukraine-Rus'" (01/30/05)

BOOK NOTES

Soon-to-be-released Volume 9 of "History of Ukraine-Rus'"

"History of Ukraine-Rus'," Volume 9, Book 1, by Mykhailo Hrushevsky. Edmonton-Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 2005. $80 (pre-publicaton price), $119.95 after January 31.

No period in Bohdan Khmelnytsky's rule was as rich in international and dynastic plans as the years 1650 to 1653. After the Zboriv Agreement of 1649, when the hetman resolved to find a way to break forever with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he set out to create the military and political conditions to achieve his goal.

From Venice to Moscow the wily hetman spun his diplomatic and military plans. In his search for allies and in pursuit of his goal of establishing a political system that would secure the Ukrainian Hetmanate, he looked above all to the Ottomans and their Danubian vassal states. Fusing the interests of his new state to those of his own family, the hetman aspired to found a new dynasty by marrying his son into the ruling house of Moldavia. And as Khmelnytsky pursued these goals and aspirations, the Kozaks' military victories and defeats were shaping the fate of a new Ukraine.

This turbulent and dramatic phase of Ukraine's history is covered in Volume 9, Book 1 of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine-Rus'." The English translation of this book has just been submitted to CIUS Press by the Hrushevsky Translation Project of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Studies of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. The work was translated by the late Dr. Bohdan Struminski and edited by Dr. Frank E. Sysyn, Dr. Serhii Plokhy and Uliana M. Pasicznyk. It includes an extensive historical introduction, a full bibliography of the sources used by Hrushevsky, three maps and an index. Preparation of the manuscript was generously sponsored by Sofiia Wojtyna of Hamilton, Ontario, in memory of Vasyl Bilash, Mykhailo Charkivsky and Mykhailo Wojtyna.

Volume 9 stands out as the longest and best-documented installment of the History. Hrushevsky undertook its writing following his controversial return from emigration to Ukraine in 1924. In the early 1920s, the Bolsheviks made limited concessions to Ukrainian culture and scholarship. Hrushevsky took advantage of these conditions to develop Ukrainian scholarly life and to assemble a new school of historians. At the same time, his return to Ukraine allowed Hrushevsky to continue work on his magnum opus. His greatest achievement was in researching and publishing the two books of Volume 9 of the History.

Hrushevsky's research, based predominantly on little-known or completely unknown sources, especially from the Moscow archives, allowed him to make a tremendous contribution to knowledge of the Khmelnytsky era. He shed new light on many events and trends of the mid-17th century, particularly in its diplomatic history. In this work the diplomatic relations of the Kozak state with Poland-Lithuania, Muscovy, the Ottoman Empire and especially the Danube principalities are studied with unsurpassed thoroughness. Among the important historical events covered in book 1 of volume 9 are the disastrous Battle of Berestechko and the Bila Tserkva peace settlement (both in 1651) and the victorious Battle of Batih (1652), which restored Kozak rule in Right-Bank Ukraine and parts of Podillia and Volhynia.

The book also covers the dramatic development of Ukrainian-Moldavian relations in the years 1650-1653, beginning with the victorious campaign against Moldavia. The period witnessed the marriage of Tymish Khmelnytsky to Roksanda Lupu, the daughter of the Moldavian hospodar, and it ended with Tymish's tragic death during the siege of Suceava by allied Polish, Wallachian and Moldavian forces - a major blow not only to Khmelnytsky's policy in the Danube region, but also to his dynastic aspirations. In covering these events, Hrushevsky again proved himself an outstanding researcher with scrupulous attention to detail. His portrait of Tymish, whom Bohdan Khmelnytsky was grooming to become his successor, remains the most thorough in historical literature. The book concludes on the eve of the Battle of Zhvanets (1653) and the Pereiaslav Council of 1654, events crucial to the future of Ukraine.

The book is scheduled to appear in print in early 2005. It will be a most valuable and welcome gift for anyone with an interest in Ukrainian and eastern European history. Until January 31 CIUS Press offers a special pre-publication sale of Volume 9, Book 1 of the History at the reduced price of $80. Subsequently, the regular price of this volume will be $119.95. Also, until January 31 the four volumes (in six books) of the "History of the Ukrainian Cossacks" (Volumes 7 through 10 of the entire History) can be purchased for $500. Outside of Canada, prices are in U.S. dollars.

Orders can be placed online by credit card via a secure Internet connection at www.utoronto.ca/cius); by e-mail [email protected]; by telephone, (780) 492-2973; or fax (780) 492-4967; or by mail, CIUS Press, 450 Athabasca Hall, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E8.

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