Introduction; 1. The origins of Rus'; 2. What happened to the Rus' land?; 3. The Lithuanian solution; 4. The rise of Muscovy; 5. The making of the Ruthenian nation; 6. Was there a reunification?; 7. The invention of Russia; 8. Ruthenia, little Russia, Ukraine; Conclusions.
A study of the origins of the modern Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian nations.
"Plokhy offers innovative and convincing reinterpretations of the
key controversies in the histories of the national development of
the East Slavs....his contribution to the history East Slavic
identities is huge. He has, indeed, delivered on his promise to
reconceptualize the field. This is must reading for all historians
of the East Slavs in the pre-modern period."
- H-Nationalism, David G. Rowley, Department of Social Sciences,
University of Wisconsin--Platteville
"[An] ambitious, revisionist, and impressive monograph.... Plokhy's
detailed, sustained interpretation sheds new light on such
processes as the gradual alienation among the three East Slavic
peoples as their historical fates differed, and such events as the
mutual misunderstanding characterizing the 1654 Union of
Pereiaslav. Plokhy has set the bar very high for future historians,
who will be stimulated by this superb book to address the question
of East Slavic national identity."
- Canadian Journal of History, Charles J. Halperin
"Plokhy has produced an impressive and often persuasive study"
Daniel H. Kaiser, Slavic Review
"...In each chapter Plokhy orients the reader by providing a
summary of the basic historical facts, as well as a brief
discussion of the major issues and controversies involved with
these topics, before proceeding to his own analysis....The Origins
of the Slavic Nations has several strengths: readers are provided
with useful summaries of the basic issues, and Plokhy familiarizes
the reader with recent literature in the field, both that produced
in the West and in the former Soviet Union. Plokhy also does a good
job of distinguishing the different meanings certain terms had
depending on the time and placed used....The Origins of the Slavic
Nations is a valuable treatment of identities in East Slavic
territory before the modern era....Plokhy's style is quite engaging
and, given his attempts to provide the requisite background
information, this book will appeal to more than just a narrow group
of specialists. Those scholars who are familiar primarily with the
Russocentric narrative will greatly benefit from Plokhy's
analysis."
--Andrew M Drozd, University of Alabama, Slavic and East European
Journal
"The result of painstaking research, Plokhy's excellent book
succeeds in refuting 'primordalist' attempts to nationalize the
premodern past. In its place, it reconstructs the lost structures
of group identity among the nations we now know as Russians,
Ukrainians, and Belarusians." -Serhy Yekelchyk, Journal of Modern
History
"This book will become essential reading for anyone seeking to
understand the premodern roots of modern divisions in Eastern
Europe." -Brian J. Boeck, The Journal of Interdisciplinary
History
"Plokhy's book is not only a masterful synthesis of Russian,
Ukranian, and Belarusian national historiography from the medieval
chroniclers to the present day...but also represents a major,
original contribution to understanding the formation of national
identities in the region." -Robert H. Greene, Journal of World
History
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