Making Ukraine

The making of modern Ukrainian identity is often reduced to a choice between "Little Russia" and "Ukraine." In this collection of essays, Zenon Kohut shows that the process was much more complex, involving Western influences and native traditions that shaped a distinct Ukrainian political culture and historiography. He stresses the importance of the early modern period and analyzes the development of Ukrainian historiography. Among the topics singled out for attention are the struggle for Cossack rights and liberties, the ambiguous role of the concept of Little Russia, the development of a stereotypical image of Jews, and post-independence relations between Ukraine and Russia. The book offers a rewarding and richly nuanced treatment of a contentious subject.

Zenon E. Kohut is a professor of history and director for the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta. Formerly a senior research analyst at the Library of Congress and editor of the American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies, Dr. Kohut is a renowned specialist in the history of Ukraine and Ukrainian-Russian relations.

Frank E. Sysyn is Director of the Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical Research at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Hrushevsky Translation Project. He is a co-editor of Culture, Nation and Identity: The Ukrainian-Russian Encounter, 1600–1945 (2003), the author of Between Poland and Ukraine: The Dilemma of Adam Kysil, 1600–1653 (1985), and Mykhailo Hrushevsky: Historian and National Awakener (2001).