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News from the
Hrushevsky Translation Project
Volume 9 of Mykhailo Hrushevsky’s History of Ukraine-Rus' is the longest and most extensively documented of the history’s ten volumes. The two books of volume 9 contain the master historian’s study of the Khmelnytsky era from the height of Cossackdom’s political and military successes in early 1650 to the death of the founder of the Cossack Hetmanate, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, in 1657. The driving force of this era was, in Hrushevsky’s words, ‘the struggle for the liberation of the Ukrainian masses,’ dictated by socioeconomic conditions and led by the Cossack officer elite. The ‘great political upheaval’ that ensued effectively shifted the center of political gravity in eastern Europe from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to Muscovy.
Book 1 of volume 9 covers the period from early 1650 to late 1653. Topics examined here include the Cossack Hetmanate’s drive to overthrow the rule of the Commonwealth; Hetman Khmelnytsky’s efforts to secure Ottoman and Muscovite support; the disastrous defeat at Berestechko; Khmelnytsky’s rallying of his forces; the Bila Tserkva peace settlement; and the victorious Battle of Batih, which restored Cossack rule in Right-Bank Ukraine and parts of Podilia. Also examined are dramatic developments in Ukrainian-Moldavian relations, beginning with a victorious Cossack campaign in Moldavia and culminating in the marriage of Khmelnytsky’s son Tymish to the Moldavian hospodar’s daughter Roksanda. The book concludes with a discussion of the hetman’s political and dynastic plans, which came to an abrupt end with his son’s tragic death.
Hrushevsky’s extensive research allowed him to examine the Khmelnytsky era in great detail. His illumination of the Cossack state’s relations with the Commonwealth, Muscovy, the Ottoman Empire, and the Danubian principalities, in particular, remains unsurpassed in clarity and thoroughness. Publication of his study in English is of particular value to specialists and students of Ottoman, Crimean, Romanian, and Hungarian history.
The preparation of volume 9, book 1 was supported by a generous donation to the Hrushevsky Translation Project from Sofia Wojtyna of Hamilton, Ontario, in memory of Vasyl Bilash, Mykhailo Charkivsky, and Mykhailo Wojtyna. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (Washington, D.C.) funded the translation.
Volume 9, book 1 of the History of Ukraine-Rus' was translated by the late Dr. Bohdan Struminski (Struminsky), a noted linguist and translator of early modern Ukrainian texts. Frank E. Sysyn, director of the Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical Research, served as editor in chief. Serhii Plokhy, associate director of the Centre, served as consulting editor. Uliana M. Pasicznyk was managing editor of the volume. The editorial staff included Myroslav Yurkevich, Marta Horban-Carynnyk, Marko R. Stech, Dushan Bednarsky, and Andrij Hornjatkevyc. Scholarly consultants included Maryna Kravets, Victor Ostapchuk, David Frick, Maria Subtelny, Ihor Ševcenko, Nicolae Pavliuc, and Vera Chentsova.
Copies are available from:
CIUS Press
4-30 Pembina Hall
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2H8, Canada
tel. 780 492-2972
fax 780 492-4967
cius@ualberta.ca
Volume 8 of History of Ukraine-Rus'
Hrushevsky’s History of Ukraine-Rus' was published in 2002. Entitled The Cossack Age, 1626–1650, the handsomely bound book (lxxv, 808 pp.) is the third volume issued of the English translation of Hrushevsky’s monumental Istoriia Ukraïny-Rusy to appear in print. The English-language edition of the classic ten-volume work is produced by the Hrushevsky Translation Project of the Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical Research at CIUS, and published by CIUS Press.
In The Cossack Age, 1626–1650, Hrushevsky gives a thorough account of the Ukrainian Cossacks, from their defeat at Lake Kurukove to their reemergence under Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky as the “elemental force” in Ukrainian history. Here, the author deals with the attempts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commmonwealth to reach an accommodation with the Cossacks and the Orthodox Church, and includes an analysis of the era of Metropolitan Petro Mohyla. He goes on to examine the causes and outbreak of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the personality of the Hetman, and the uprising’s early phase and climactic years of 1648–49, when it represented the interests of the Cossack and peasant masses. He concludes the volume with a discussion of the failure of the Treaty of Zboriv and the Cossacks’ decision to break completely with the Commonwealth.
Based on an exhaustive examination of the sources and scholarly literature, Hrushevsky’s volume stands as the most comprehensive account of this dramatic period in Ukrainian history. The master historian provides a wealth of scholarly and bibliographical information, which the editors have supplemented with bibliographic updates. The English edition includes a new compilation of all sources and publications used by Hrushevsky, a comprehensive index, and 4 maps, including a fold-out map indicating the territory and course of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Ukraine’s central role in the international politics of the time makes the volume important for specialists and students of Eastern European, Central European, Ottoman, Russian, and Jewish history, as well as to those studying revolution and state-building in early modern Europe.
The preparation of The Cossack Age, 1626–1650 was funded by a generous donation from Hanna Moroz-Mazurenko of Toronto in memory of her husband, Danylo Mazurenko. A translation grant was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C. The volume was translated by Marta Daria Olynyk, a Montreal-based editor and translator. Frank E. Sysyn, director of the Jacyk Centre and editor in chief of the Hrushevsky Translation Project, served as the volume’s consulting editor and wrote the extensive introduction. Myroslav Yurkevich edited the volume. Other editors included Serhii Plokhy, Uliana M. Pasicznyk, Marta Horban-Carynnyk, Marko Stech, Andrij Hornjatkevyè, Dushan Bednarsky, Tania Plawuszczak-Stech, Olena Plokhy, and Lada Bassa. Andrii Grechylo and Iaroslav Fedoruk worked on the bibliography and updates. Scholarly consultants included Ihor Ševèenko, Maria Subtelny, Victor Ostapchuk, Jeffrey Wills, David Frick, Paulina Lewin, and Nicolae Pavliuc.
The volume may be ordered from CIUS Press, 4-30 Pembina Hall, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2H8. Fax (780) 492-4967; e-mail: cius@ualberta.ca. Until the end of August 2003, the volume is available for the discount price of $90, shipping included (in Canada, GST is included; outside Canada, the price is in U.S. dollars). Subscriptions to the ten volumes (in 11 books) of History of Ukraine-Rus' are also available at the discount price of $1,000. After August 2003, the price of volume 8 will be $119.95, and the subscription price will revert to $1,200.
Reprinted from CIUS Annual Review 2002