Ukraine in Histories and Stories: Essays by Ukrainian intellectuals

Written by Volodymyr Yermolenko

Narrated by Volodymyr Yermolenko, Jamie Renell and Eileen Koteles

The book is a collection of texts by contemporary Ukrainian intellectuals: writers, historians, philosophers, political analysts, opinion leaders. The texts have been written for an international audience. The collection combines reflections on Ukraine's history (or histories, in plural), and analysis of the present, conceptual ideas and life stories. The book presents a multi-faceted image of Ukrainian memory and reality: from the Holodomor to Maidan, from Russian aggression to cultural diversity, from the depth of the past to the complexity of the present. It was initially published by Internews Ukraine, one of the biggest Ukrainian media NGOs, under support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. New introduction by the book's editor, Ukrainian philosopher Volodymyr Yermolenko, reflects the realities of Russia's total war against Ukraine launched in February 2022.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Feb 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781094455013

Volodymyr Yermolenko

Dr. Volodymyr Yermolenko (born 1980) is a Ukrainian philosopher, journalist and writer. Doctor of political studies (France), PhD in philosophy (kandydat nauk, Ukraine). Analytics director at Internews Ukraine, one of the biggest and oldest Ukrainian media NGOs. Chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, a multimedia project in English about Ukraine. Associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Book writer (non-fiction and fiction), winner of Myroslav Popovych Prize (2021), Petro Mohyla Prize (2021), Yurii Sheveliov Prize (2018), Book of the Year prize in Ukraine (2018, 2015) and others. Member of board of International Renaissance Foundation (OSI Network). Member of Supervisory board of Ukrainian Institute (2018-2021). Public lecturer, columnist at Krayina Magazine and NV.ua. Expert in information analysis and media literacy; architect and trainer at several media literacy projects within the activity of Internews Ukraine and UkraineWorld. Co-founder and author of podcasts Kult:Podcast (in Ukrainian) and Explaining Ukraine (in English). Anchorman of TV programmes Ukraina Rozumna and Hromadske.Svit at Hromadske.ua (2016-2020). Author of numerous articles in international and Ukrainian media. Published in The Economist, Le Monde, Financial Times, New York Times, Newsweek, gave numerous comments to BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, France 24 etc. His texts and interviews have been published in Ukrainian, English, French, German, Polish, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Norwegian, Czech, Greek, Chinese and others. Father of three daughters.

Reviews for Ukraine in Histories and Stories

[olapet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I came across a review stating that the essays and stories in this book are incoherent and sometimes even contradictory. I believe that the diversity of standpoints, a combination of essays, stories and interviews create a multicoloured patchwork of voices, which is a perfect representation of Ukraine. It may seem strange to combine all the different styles of narratives, but it does work! It mirrors communication within the Ukrainian society, where everyone is free to choose their own style of expression. Ukrainian society is not perfect, there are a lot of things that it still needs to work on, but when the worse comes to worst, it unites and fights for its freedom. This is exactly what this book is about.

P.S. one star less is for the audio book version - it was very frustrating how the names of places and people were butchered by the narattors.

[marcello_324836275 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent compilation of views about the complicated and fascinating history and culture of Ukraine.