The Reconstruction of Nations
Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999

The Maidan saga is still evolving, and it recently took an ugly pivot to the past, as has been documented in Foreign Policy journal and elsewhere. Shortly after the new Ukrainian government ascended to power, President Poroshenko appointed an amateur historian whose nationalist views have been the s......more

Snyder gives a fascinating exploration of Eastern Europe's shifting experiments with inter-ethnic relations, varying from grand coalitions of political unity, to ferocious ethnic cleansing, to civil cooperation between basically ethnic states. I was particularly impressed with the constructive matur......more

Definitely a must read for anyone who's interested in history, particularly Eastern European history. The author explains the origins of Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian national identities, how they evolved during the course of events, including the three partitions of the Polish-Lithua......more