This wonderful book is half an autobiography and half a survey of Eastern
Europe, a war-torn region that for most of its existence had aggressive
Russia on one side and aggressive Germany on the other. And it was a
fractured region, divided less by frontiers than by language, religion,
and ideology. "It was the place where the Catholic Church met its Orthodox
counterpart," explains Jacob Mikanowski. "It was the border between Rome and
Constantinople, Latin and Greek, Gothic spires and wooden domes." There
were Muslims in the south, left over from the Ottoman Empire. And Jews!
"About 80 percent of the Jews alive today can trace their ancestry back to
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth" that lasted until Prussia, Austria-Hungary,
and Russia divided it up in 1795. They play a correspondingly
large role in
Goodby Eastern Europe, to the point where I found myself skipping
through the endless Jewish folk tales. But overall I was enchanted.
I even enjoyed the Epilog!
Serhii Plokhy was born in Russia, grew up in Ukraine, and divided his
university years between them. With nice timing, he finished graduate
studies in 1990, just as the Soviet Union was imploding. He made his way
to Canada and then the US, where he now enjoys the mouth-filling title
of Harvard's Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History. As you
might expect, the first third of The
Russo-Ukrainian War is a slog. Prof Plokhy starts with Moscow in
December 1991, with Mihail Gorbachev stepping down as president of
the USSR. When he's finished with his speech. the USSR no longer exists,
and the reason is -- Ukraine, which votes overwhelmingly to free itself
of Russian rule, with the weird result that it becomes a major nuclear
power. And so it goes. I am halfway through the book before we I come
to February 2022 and Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" to
murder Ukraine'e president and incorporate the country into his Russian
Federation. Though it's hard going at times, the detour is worth
while, and I heartily recommend the book. I read the
Kindle ebook,
which is priced at a modest $9.66.
The Blitz 1940-41
a handsomely illustrated campaign history from Osprey Books,
with some particularly fine paintings and handsome photographs, including some
in color. The text by Julian Hale takes particular care to lay out Hitler's,
Göring, and the Luftwaffe's hopes and plans for the raids on London and
other English cities in the summer, fall, and winter of 1940-1941. Perhaps the
greatest German failure was the cancellation of the long-range, four-engine
"Uralbomber" program in 1937, forcing it to rely on lighter twin-engine
aircraft and even, on one occasion, Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters carrying
bombs. Despite its inadequacy, the Luftwaffe killed so many civilians in
the Blirz that not 1942 did British military deaths exceed those suffered
on the home front. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
Question? Comment? Newsletter? Send me an email. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
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