Anna Reid's "Borderland: 256 Pages of Adventure and Intrigue"

A. Zubarev: It is a concise, but comprehensive coverage of the Ukrainian history. Unbiased, with interviews and firsthand experience.
Very touching.
In my view this book can be just enough to understand what is going on in Ukraine or use it to expand one's knowledge further.
I wish it had a continuation to the modern day events. But it is not excluded that the author will add to it.

Canada on Jul 21, 2023

Ralph R Palm: A good history, journalistic rather than academic. I highly recommend it as a primer on the background of current events.

United States on Mar 05, 2023

Zangiku: This reminds me of nothing so much as the old James/Jan Morris books. It is a very well-written history of Ukraine described in colorful chunks relating to areas of the country which the author visits. If this sounds confusing, it is not, but instead gives a wonderful overall view of Ukraine's story, beautifully presented and easy to remember because of its various associations with places. An original and successful idea. Often funny, and filled with interesting & sympathetic characters. Although first written in 1991, the new second part takes us up to 2014. It is all you need to know as background to the terrible events going on today. Easy to digest and somehow comforting: the Ukrainians have always been tough nuts and one can trust Putler's cruelty will not change that.

Glory to Ukraine!

Japan on Nov 01, 2022

Regine van sweringen: A must read for anybody interested in the Ukraine, Anne apple aim has a talent to demonstrate the very complicated past of this country. And she is fair enough to portray the Ukrainians not as saints but instead indicatives their involvement in the many fold programs. I can only invite people to read this book.

Germany on Sep 03, 2022

Biker Chick: Borderland is a very well-researched account of Ukraine's very complex history. In several places, the prose draws the reader into the author's experience of her time in Ukraine conducting her research in interesting ways. However, the parts of the book that delve deeply into the present nation's disjointed and constantly changing territorial governance over past centuries can be confusing, and not for the feint of heart. But if you want to better understand why Russia believes Ukraine to be part of its own territory, and the varied attitudes of modern Ukrainians about their cultural heritage, you will find answers in this book.

United States on Aug 01, 2022

BM: A lot of the book is dedicated to the authors impressions of traveling through Ukraine in 1993 right after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine’s independence. I can see that this person is trying to draw another parallel perhaps but it makes the book unhelpful. She will dedicate pages to describing the poorest state of her hotel room and more of what it was to travel like at the time. Every single chapter starts with pages describing yet another small town in Ukraine and a bad train experience or something else that’s irrelevant today, 30 years later. It’s totally fine to do if the book was called “traveling through Ukraine in 1993” But it’s starting to get overbearing and irrelevant for a book that aims to be a journey through the history of Ukraine.

BUT! It is a lot more interesting and readable than a dry history book.

United States on Apr 24, 2022

Amazon Customer: The history of Ukraine is wonderfully presented. Read this book and you will see the character of the second and third generation Ukrainians who are fighting today, April 11, 2022.

United States on Apr 12, 2022

T. Steven Redding: Anna Reid does a splendid job of presenting a thorough history of this fascinating land, coupled with her own personal knowledge of living in Ukraine. This second edition adds chapters bringing that history up to the taking of Crimea. Borderland provides an excellent background for understanding the current war with Russia/Putin. Well written and an informative read.

United States on Apr 01, 2022

John Hopper: This is a fascinating and also rather depressing history of Ukraine. At the time of my writing this review, the Russian invasion of the country is just over a week old, and sadly represents just the latest in a many centuries long history of war, massacre and disaster, for much of which time the Ukrainians have not had their own state, but been part of Russian, Polish, Lithuanian or Austro-Hungarian states or empires. This is a book of two (uneven) halves, written during the author's various sojourns in the capital Kyiv. This is a 1000 year history of war and violence, from the founding of the Kievan Russ state and its historic decision to adopt Byzantine Christianity, separating future Russians, Ukrainians and Belarussians from their Polish Catholics to the west; Islam was also an option but Prince Volodomyr liked pork and wine! It is a history involving Mongols, Cossacks, Poles, Jews and many others in a colourful and violent interplay of nations and ethnic groups.

These first ten chapters were written in the mid 90s, just a few years after independence from the Soviet Union, which came suddenly after the failure of the August 1991 coup attempt again Soviet leader Mikhail...

United Kingdom on Mar 04, 2022

César: Es una visión muy pro ucraniana de la historia, lo cual es loable después de leer ciertas anécdotas de la autora en el país. La mitad del libro trata sobre la historia más reciente, me hubiese gustado ahondar más en la historia antigua, pero en cualquier caso es un buen libro, y bien escrito. Edición paperback. Lo recomiendo.

Spain on Aug 23, 2020