Books for Understanding Ukraine & Russia - February 2022

Books for Understanding Ukraine & Russia

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Politics Paradoxes of Nostalgia

Staging Democracy

Cold War Triumphalism and Global Disorder since 1989 Penny M. Von Eschen

Political Performance in Ukraine, Russia, and Beyond Jessica Pisano

Offers a sweeping examina�on of the a�erlife of the cold war and its lingering shadows, showing how a nostalgia and longing for stability fuels US-led militarism and the rise of xenophobic right-wing na�onalism and authoritarianism around the world. She demonstrates that triumphalist claims that capitalism and military might won the cold war distort the past and disfigure the present, undermining democra�c values and ins�tu�ons.

DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Focusing on the experiences of people in Russia and Ukraine, Staging Democracy shows how some na�onal leaders' seeming popularity rests on local economic compacts. Pisano draws on long-term research in rural communi�es and company towns, analyzing how local poli�cal and business leaders, seeking favor from incumbent poli�cians, used salaries, benefits, and public infrastructure to pressure ci�zens to par�cipate in command performances.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

Series: American Encounters/Global Interac�ons July 2022 37 illus. 392pp 9781478018230 £21.99 PB

Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies July 2022 252pp 9781501764202 £18.99 PB

Party Politics in Russia and Ukraine

Ghosts of War

Nazi Occupation and Its Aftermath in Soviet Belarus Franziska Exeler

Electoral System Change in Diverging Regimes Bryon Moraski

How do states and socie�es confront the legacies of war and occupa�on, and what do truth, guilt, and jus�ce mean in that process? In Ghosts of War, Franziska Exeler examines people's war�me choices and their a�ermath in Belarus, a war-ravaged Soviet republic that was under Nazi occupa�on during the Second World War. CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

Examines how poli�cal par�es navigate major elec�on reforms by comparing electoral system changes in Russia and Ukraine at the same �me, under different regimes. Moraski sheds light on how authoritarian regimes—and the ruling par�es that support them—have used changing condi�ons in their countries to consolidate their power, with varying success.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

April 2022 13 b&w hal�ones, 5 maps 360pp 9781501762734 £27.99 HB

June 2022 35 b&w illus. 304pp 9781479807765 £26.99 PB

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Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine Catherine Wanner

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

November 2022 24 b&w hal�ones 240pp 9781501764981 £18.99 PB

Fluid Russia

Between the Global and the National in the Post-Soviet Era Vera Michlin-Shapir

Fluid Russia offers a new framework for understanding Russian na�onal iden�ty by focusing on the impact of globaliza�on on its forma�on, something which has been largely overlooked. This approach sheds new light on the Russian case, revealing a dynamic Russian iden�ty that is developing along the lines of other countries exposed to globaliza�on.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies December 2021 264pp 9781501760549 £40.00 HB

Global Finance, Local Control

Corruption and Wealth in Contemporary Russia Igor O. Logvinenko

Exploring Russia's re-entry into global capital markets at the dawn of the twentyfirst century, Global Finance, Local Control shows how economic integra�on became deeply entangled with a bare-knuckled struggle for control over the ves�ges of the Soviet empire. Igor Logvinenko reveals how the post-communist Russian economy became a full-fledged par�cipant in the interna�onal financial sector without significantly improving the local rule of law.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Series: Cornell Studies in Money October 2021 5 charts 246pp 9781501759604 £40.00 HB

The Politics of History in Putin's Russia Edited by Anton Weiss-Wendt & Nanci Adler

In post-Soviet Russia, there is a persistent trend to repress, control, or even co-opt na�onal history. While Pu�n's regime has acquired nearly complete control over interpreta�ons of the past, The Future of the Soviet Past reveals that Russia's inability to fully rewrite its Soviet history plays an essen�al part in its current poli�cal agenda.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS October 2021 13 b&w photos 270pp 9780253057624 £33.00 PB

Is Russia Fascist?

Unraveling Propaganda East and West Marlene Laruelle

Marlene Laruelle argues that the charge of "fascism" has become a strategic narra�ve of the current world order. Laruelle closely analyzes accusa�ons of fascism toward Russia, soberly assessing both their origins and their accuracy. By labeling ideological opponents as fascist, regardless of their actual values or ac�ons, geopoli�cal rivals are able to frame their own vision of the world and claim the moral high ground.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS March 2021 1 chart 264pp 9781501754135 £32.00 HB

War in a European Borderland

Occupations and Occupation Plans in Galicia and Ukraine, 1914-1918 Mark L von Hagen

Examines the many regime changes that took place in occupied Ukraine during World War I.Provides vital historical background to current events in Ukraine, and offers lessons on the problems faced by occupying powers. Further, the problems of the past remain sadly relevant for occupied civilian popula�ons today.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS Series: Donald W. Treadgold Studies on Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia October 2007 128pp 9780295987538 £22.99 PB

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Regional History

The Future of the Soviet Past

The Carpathians

Discovering the Highlands of Poland and Ukraine Patrice M. Dabrowski

Patrice M. Dabrowski narrates how three highland ranges of the mountain system found in present-day Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine were discovered for a broader regional public. This is a story of how the Tatras, Eastern Carpathians, and Bieszczady Mountains went from being terra incognita to becoming the popular tourist des�na�ons they are today.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies October 2021 13 b&w hal�ones, 5 maps 288pp 9781501759673 £26.99 HB

On Russian Soil Myth and Materiality Mieka Erley

Blending close readings of literature, films, and other artworks with analysis of texts of poli�cal philosophy, science, and social theory, Mieka Erley offers an interdisciplinary perspec�ve on a�tudes to soil in Russia and the Soviet Union from the early nineteenth to the mid-twen�eth century.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies June 2021 3 b&w hal�ones 204pp 9781501755699 £32.00 HB

Russian Conservatism Paul Robinson

Russian Conserva�sm examines the history of Russian conserva�ve thought from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present. Robinson charts the contribu�ons made by philosophers, poli�cians, and others during the Imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies May 2021 300pp 9781501755361 £16.99 PB

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Witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine, 1000–1900

A Sourcebook Edited by Valerie A. Kivelson & Christine D. Worobec

This sourcebook provides the first systema�c overview of witchcra� laws and trials in Russia and Ukraine from medieval �mes to the late nineteenth century.

Weaves scholarly commentary with neverbefore-published primary source materials translated from Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian. These sources include the earliest references to witchcra� and sorcery, secular and religious laws regarding witchcra� and possession, full trial transcripts, and a wealth of magical spells. The documents present a rich panorama of daily life and reveal the extraordinary power of magical words.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies November 2020 13 b&w hal�ones, 2 maps 540pp 9781501750656 £24.99 PB

Chronicles in Stone

Preservation, Patriotism, and Identity in Northwest Russia Victoria Donovan Chronicles in Stone is a study of the powerful and pervasive myth of the Russian Northwest, its role in forming Soviet and Russian iden��es, and its impact on local communi�es. Combining detailed archival research, par�cipant observa�on and oral history work, it explores the transforma�on of three northwestern Russian towns from provincial backwaters into the symbolic homelands of the Soviet and Russian na�ons.

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS

Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies November 2019 13 b&w hal�ones, 2 maps 246pp 9781501747878 £43.00 HB

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The House of Hemp and Butter A History of Old Riga Kevin C. O'Connor

Founded as an ecclesias�cal center, trading hub, and intended capital of a feudal state, Riga was Old Livonia's greatest city and its indispensable port. The House of Hemp and Bu�er is an indispensable guide to this quintessen�ally European city located in one of the con�nent's more remote corners.

Cornell University Press Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies November 2019 13 b&w hal�ones 342pp 9781501747687 £35.00 HB

Space, Place, and Power in Modern Russia

Essays in the New Spatial History Edited by Mark Bassin, Christopher Ely & Melissa K Stockdale Explores the crea�on, transforma�on, and imagina�on of Russian space as a lens through which to understand Russia's development over the centuries. Considers aspects of the rela�onship between place and power in Russia from the local level to the na�onal and from the eighteenth century through the present.

Cornell University Press Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies November 2018 5 illus. 250pp 9780875807980 £23.99 PB

Ukrainian Poetry

Inventing Eastern Europe

The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment Larry Wolff

In this provoca�ve, wide-ranging history of how the con�nent of Europe came to be conceived as divided into "Western Europe" and "Eastern Europe," the author shows that it was not a natural dis�nc�on, or even an innocent one, but instead was a work of cultural crea�on, of intellectual ar�fice, of ideological self-interest and selfpromo�on.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS June 1996 436pp 9780804727020 £26.99 PB

LOST HORSE PRESS

Three Wooden Trunks

Dream Bridge

Selected Poems Oleh Lysheha Translated by Virlana Tkacz & Wanda Phipps In this collec�on, Oleh Lysheha creates worlds in which horses drawn on Paleolithic caves speak their truths and the glance of a swan can transform a lost soul.

Each poem leads us down an invisible path that keeps shi�ing, transforming us and our ideas of poetry, together with the story. In a concluding essay, ar�s�c director Virlana Tkacz relates the story of the transla�ons collected in this volume and the produc�ons she staged with them at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS April 2022 160pp 9781736432372 £17.99 PB

The Country Where Everyone’s Name Is Fear Selected Poems Boris Khersonsky & Ludmila Khersonsky Edited by Katie Farris & Ilya Kaminsky

Virlana Tkacz

A collec�on of poems about memory, the poet’s Ukrainian roots, and the poet’s family’s pursuit of a sweeter, easier life in America.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS April 2022 86pp 9781736432365 £14.99 PB

Apricots of Donbas

Lyuba Yakimchuk Translated by Oksana Maksymchuk, Max Rosochinsky & Svetlana Lavochkina A bilingual collec�on by award-winning contemporary Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuk. Reflec�ng her complex emo�onal experiences, Yakimchuk’s poetry is versa�le, ranging from sumptuous verses about the urgency of ero�c desire in a wartorn city to imita�ons of childlike babbling about the tools and toys of military combat. Playfulness in the face of catastrophe is a dis�nc�ve feature of Yakimchuk’s voice, evoking the legacy of the Ukrainian Futurists of the 1920s.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS October 2021 166pp 9781736432310 £17.99 PB

Boris Khersonsky and Ludmila Khersonsky write poetry that speaks to the crisis of our �me, when refugees run from bombardments, nonstop propaganda flows from TV, and neighbors begin to hate their neighbors. The se�ng is Ukraine at the start of the twenty-first century, but it is eerily recognizable anywhere.

These brief lyric poems speak about the memory of historical trauma and witness stark individual voices that pierce the wall of complacency.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS April 2022 120pp 9781736432358 £14.99 PB

Eccentric Days of Hope and Sorrow Natalka Bilotserkivets Translated by Ali Kinsella & Dzvinia Orlowsky

Bilotserkivets’s larger body of work con�nues to be rela�vely unknown. She was an ac�ve par�cipant in “Ukraine’s Renaissance” of the late-Soviet and earlyindependence period. Nearly thirty years on, much has changed in her birth land, but the lyricism and urgency in Bilotserkivets’s poetry remain; her voice s�ll speaks about movement and restricted movement, even symbolic movement.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS October 2021 160pp 9781736432327 £17.99 PB

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Carbon

Smokes

Lavochkina sends readers on a double odyssey with two adventurers, the fiery blacksmith Alexander and the elusive linguist Lisa, whose paths are des�ned to cross on the cusp of the war in the Donbas.

Only one of them fathoms that their encounter goes far beyond its face-value purpose. A thriller, a romance, a CV, a rose of historical winds, a song of cra�s, an ontology of Eastern-Ukrainian mind in one, Carbon is told in polyphonic verse—a prayer for the beloved, anguished city.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS

Yuri Izdryk’s poetry explodes with existen�al contempla�ons and addresses regarding love, iden�ty, nature, society, and even God. Largely le�ng go of the rhymes, the translators of this selec�on of Izdryk’s work emphasize his zany rhythms to capture his de� play with both modernity and tradi�on, and his vigorous gallows humor.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS

Svetlana Lavochkina

Yuri Izdryk Translated by Roman Ivashkiv & Erin Moure

October 2020 120pp 9781733340045 £14.99 PB

April 2019 110pp 9780999199466 £13.99 PB

Mountain and Flower

Songs for a Dead Rooster

The Selected Poems of Mykola Vorobiov Mykola Vorobiov Translated by Maria G. Rewakowicz A founding member of the nonconformist literary group known as the Kyiv School of Poetry, Vorobiov is known in his early poems for a preoccupa�on with metaphor and surreal imagery. In his more mature poetry he reveals himself as a master of miniature, with considerable affinity to Japanese haiku. Nature reigns supreme, providing him with an endless opportunity for crea�ng startling images. Vorobiov’s concerns hover around issues of existence on all possible levels—plants, animals, humans, objects, and the universe.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS

Yuri Andrukhovych Translated by Vitaly Chernetsky & Ostap Kin Andrukhovych emerged as a prominent voice in Ukrainian literature with his first book of poems in 1985. A comprehensive selec�on of his poetry from the 1980s1990s, �tled Lysty v Ukrainu, came out in 2013 where Andrukhovych revisited several of those texts. This book traces the evolu�on of his poe�cs from the 1980s onward UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS November 2018 80pp 9780999199404 £13.99 PB

October 2020 100pp 9781733340052 £11.99 PB

Pray to the Empty Wells

Iryna Shuvalova Translated by Olena Jennings Pray to the Empty Wells is a bilingual collec�on of poems by award-winning contemporary Ukrainian author Iryna Shuvalova. The forty-four poems reflect the central sec�on of Shuvalova’s forthcoming book of Ukrainian-language poems of the same �tle.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS September 2019 80pp 9780999199480 £13.99 PB

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