The Gates of Europe A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy
The Gates of Europe A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy is a well written work of history that manages to balance minute details as well as the broad historical picture of Ukraine.
I have studied the history of Europe and some European nations both in detail and in general, but I had very little prior knowledge about Ukraine before picking up The Gates of Europe. There is a considerable amount of ground to cover, but Plokhy never left me feeling confused or overwhelmed.
The Gates of Europe is truly compressive in its scale. Although there is little concrete information to go on at the start, Plokhy begins his history with the earliest evidence of human settlement thousands of years ago in what is now Ukraine, and continues through the year 2015. No single section of this book felt neglected or as though it was focused on at the expense of one of the other sections. Plokhy succeeds in providing a broad but still detailed overview of the long history of Ukraine.
The book provides information about the lives, situations, and motivations of all of the actors involved whether they are rich, poor, soldiers, civilians, invaders, conquers, natives, foreigners, victims, or villains. The imagery provides a tantalizing picture of both the events and environments that people lived through.
Plokhy also does well be avoiding the trap of focusing on only one driving force in history. He studies both the effects caused and suffered by different driving forces from religion, to war, and economics. History is complicated.
That same overview does not at any point feel rushed or generalized. I do not know every detail of Ukrainian history, but I now consider myself equipped with a firm starting point from which I can dive into different episodes of Ukraine’s past for more details.
Plokhy also helpfully provides appendices including a timeline, glossary, maps, and a dramatist persona of important figures. These go a long way to keeping order.
If someone is looking for a more in-depth examination of a particular point in Ukrainian history, like the Second World War, or the appearance of the Mongols, they will need to look elsewhere, but that should not be counted against the book, as the goal of this work is a broad view of a very long history.
The Gates of Europe A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy is more than suitable to sate the historical appetite of both the long-time historian and the first-time taster. Be aware that this is an eight-course meal though, not a light snack.