Living in Words – New German translations of Ukrainian literature + Books on Ukraine from German publishers

With the war in Ukraine, a new era has begun in Europe. At its heart, the conflict is about the...

With the war in Ukraine, a new era has begun in Europe. At its heart, the conflict is about the interpretation of the history of a huge country which has been a bone of contention between the great powers for centuries. It is seen as the cradle of Russian civilisation and was a mythical place for the ancient Greeks; it has been controlled by many different rulers including the Vikings, the Mongols, Austria-Hungary, Poland and the Soviets, who managed to wear down Ukrainian resistance through the 'Holodomor' – the cruel starvation of the population. In this knowledgeable and eloquent book, Harvard professor Serhii Plokhy demonstrates that the Ukrainians are a people with their own language, traditions and history. The Gateway to Europe is perhaps the most important book on this subject for anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of the background to the present conflict. It shows how Ukraine became a political football for the East and the West, and how it nevertheless managed to preserve its own identity.

In The Frontline, historian Serhii Plokhy analyses pivotal developments in the history of Ukraine. In recent years Plokhy has written...

In The Frontline, historian Serhii Plokhy analyses pivotal developments in the history of Ukraine. In recent years Plokhy has written many books on Ukraine that have been very successful in the English-speaking world. In this book he presents the most important insights and analyses from his historical research in a concise and trenchant way, highlighting key events, developments and turning points and putting them into their historical context: this includes Ukraine's complex relationship with Russia and with the West, the impact of catastrophes like the Holodomor and the Second World War, the importance of Chernobyl, and Ukraine's influence on the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This book paints a multidimensional portrait of a country that has involuntarily come to dominate the headlines. In his accessible and knowledgeable account, Plokhy goes to the roots of the longstanding political, cultural and military conflict in Ukraine. His insights are as enlightening as they are alarming.

This prizewinning book about 14 ethnic minorities looks at the regional history and personal stories of Czechs and Slovaks, Meskhetian...

This prizewinning book about 14 ethnic minorities looks at the regional history and personal stories of Czechs and Slovaks, Meskhetian Turks, Swedes, Romanians, Hungarians, Roma, Jews, 'Liptaks', Gagauz, Germans, Vlachs, Poles, Crimean Tatars and Armenians in Ukraine. Based on academic insights, ethnographic research and interviews, Olesya Yaremchuk paints a fascinating picture of the emergence of these groups in Ukraine and their development within its national borders. Complemented by vivid photographs that bring the literary reportage to life, Our Others describes the countless voluntary and forced migrations that have shaped Ukraine for centuries.

Nestor Makhno was ten months old when his father died. Because his family were so poor, he could only go...

Nestor Makhno was ten months old when his father died. Because his family were so poor, he could only go to school during the winter months: in summer, he worked as a shepherd for local landowners in what is now Zaporizhia Oblast in Ukraine. As a result of the repression meted out by Tsarist Russia, which had grown harsher since the Russian Revolution of 1905, he became inspired by revolutionary groups and embraced anarchism and the ideas of Bakunin and Kropotkin. In this electrifying book, Vasily Golovanov tells the almost unbelievable story of Makhno's life, from his birth until his death in Parisian exile, against the backdrop of a turbulent period in history. He traces Makhno's comet-like rise to become leader of an uncompromising freedom movement, named after Makhno himself, which wanted to create an anarchist Ukraine.

This book brings together several fascinating family stories based on the accounts of parents, grandparents etc. The authors, whose articles...

This book brings together several fascinating family stories based on the accounts of parents, grandparents etc. The authors, whose articles were collected with the help of the popular academic publication Historical Truth, tell of the worst war of the 20th century, of the fates of those whose lives were forever divided into 'before' and 'after'. There are first-hand accounts of Ukrainians who fought in various armies, of the lives of deported people, of the fates of people taken to forced labour camps, and of the men and women who remain in our memories forever.

A major political biography of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, which provides important insights into the recent history of Ukraine. Sergii...

A major political biography of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, which provides important insights into the recent history of Ukraine. Sergii Rudenko, who has been a journalist in Kyiv for many years, has written the first biography of Zelensky. His book paints a balanced picture of an unusual politician, a vivid portrait of a hero who never asked to be one. It is an indispensable source of information for anyone wanting to understand the man who has defied Putin and who, along with his country, has long since become the defender of the free world.

The contributors to this volume – writers, academics and activists, artists and journalists – capture a sense of simultaneity: the...

The contributors to this volume – writers, academics and activists, artists and journalists – capture a sense of simultaneity: the ruining of lives and the places in which they are lived; civilian and military self-assertion; the desire to create a new, peaceful homeland. They describe and analyse the situation of traumatised people in wartime – how these people are profoundly changed, and yet are able to find themselves again in very uncertain times.

These essays are a gift: they are a window onto a better understanding of the unthinkable events currently unfolding in...

These essays are a gift: they are a window onto a better understanding of the unthinkable events currently unfolding in Ukraine. In this poignant and analytically razor-sharp book, Tanja Maljartschuk, winner of the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, explains what Russia's hostile expansionist policies have done to a country and its people, not only since 2022 but for over a decade. 

On 24 February 2022, the Russian army launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The city of Kharkiv, close to the...

On 24 February 2022, the Russian army launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The city of Kharkiv, close to the border and home to millions of people, came under heavy fire. Hundreds of thousands of people fled. The Ukrainian writer Sergei Gerasimov, however, remained in the embattled frontline city. Soon there were shortages of clean water, food and medical infrastructure. People froze in sub-zero temperatures. Gerasimov started writing about the absurdity of everyday life in wartime. The result is a disturbing eyewitness account and an appeal for peace and understanding.

Olesya Khromeychuk tells the story of her brother Volodymyr Pavliv, who was killed on the frontline in 2017. She writes...

Olesya Khromeychuk tells the story of her brother Volodymyr Pavliv, who was killed on the frontline in 2017. She writes from the perspective of a civilian and a woman – perspectives that rarely feature in accounts of war – and concentrates on the stories that play out far away from the warzone.

Until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Andrey Kurkov lived in Kyiv. He is one of the most popular Ukrainian writers...

Until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Andrey Kurkov lived in Kyiv. He is one of the most popular Ukrainian writers in the German-speaking world, and has a gift for writing about the things that unite us, and what different time periods have in common. At a time when many of us cannot find the words for what is happening, he manages to capture the devastation wreaked by war, the way it changes and redefines lives, the way it causes us to look at things anew – things that can no longer be as they were, that will never taste or feel the way they did before. Andrey Kurkov highlights historical continuities and makes the Ukrainian struggle for self-determination tangible. He writes down the stories that do not make it into the news bulletins: he writes about flashpoints and life stories. He writes about people. Andrey Kurkov's Diary of an Invasion includes notes which are highly personal and yet are addressed to somebody else: to the world, to all of us. They bear witness to what was, what is, and what may be – afterwards.

"When Russia invaded my country, Ukraine, my parents, my dog and I took refuge in a bomb shelter that seemed...

"When Russia invaded my country, Ukraine, my parents, my dog and I took refuge in a bomb shelter that seemed completely surreal to me. And because there was WiFi there and the days were incredibly long and boring, I posted videos to show people my new home. Some of these videos even went viral around the world." Valeria decides to show the world her home city of Chernihiv and tell the true story of what is happening. None of us could ever have imagined such images and stories coming out of the heart of Europe in the 21st century; none of us ever wanted to. And the horror does not end with her flight to Milan, because when she gets there, Putin's bombs catch up with her and strike her right in the heart.  

Like her fellow Ukrainians, Julia Solska always felt that Russia was a threat to Ukraine. But she could never have...

Like her fellow Ukrainians, Julia Solska always felt that Russia was a threat to Ukraine. But she could never have imagined that Vladimir Putin would attack her homeland and wage a brutal war on it – until the day she was awoken in her flat in Kyiv on 24 February 2022 by bombs going off, and saw the people around her panicking. Like millions of other Ukrainians, she decided to flee, and after a long journey she arrived in Germany. In her diary she gives a striking account of what it is like when your life changes overnight – in the most literal sense of the word – and you have to cope with mortal fear.

"Absolute zero": this is the name given to the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine dividing the Ukrainian army from separatist...

"Absolute zero": this is the name given to the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine dividing the Ukrainian army from separatist fighters from the rebel "People's Republics". Artem Chekh, a young author from Kyiv, fought on this front in 2015/2016  – and became a soldier.

This book is a chronicle of ongoing events, the testimony of a man who enters into a new reality while...

This book is a chronicle of ongoing events, the testimony of a man who enters into a new reality while writing and who resists the destruction of everything around him. Not a solitary observer, but an active civilian in a society which has learned, over the past eight years, what it means to be strong together.

For seven days, Egon Alt and Yuri Andrukhovych talk about the Hapsburg Empire Soviet-style, about train stations, border posts and...

For seven days, Egon Alt and Yuri Andrukhovych talk about the Hapsburg Empire Soviet-style, about train stations, border posts and forgotten dreams, about banned music, recruits in the Red Army and the legendary happenings of the performance group BuBaBu.

Markiyan Kamysch is the son of a so-called 'liquidator', a member of one of the rescue and clean-up teams called...

Markiyan Kamysch is the son of a so-called 'liquidator', a member of one of the rescue and clean-up teams called in to deal with the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Since 2010, Kamysch has been carrying out illegal investigations inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. He has now spent almost a year recording his experiences in the area around the nuclear power plant and the nearby city of Pripyat, which is contaminated by radiation.

Sabuschko unfurls a continually developing tapestry of Ukrainian history for the reader. In tone, the book is combative, emotional, provocative...

Sabuschko unfurls a continually developing tapestry of Ukrainian history for the reader. In tone, the book is combative, emotional, provocative and angry.

Radio Night, published in Ukraine in 2020, is a powerfully written and highly topical contemporary novel. Climate protests, the pandemic,...

Radio Night, published in Ukraine in 2020, is a powerfully written and highly topical contemporary novel. Climate protests, the pandemic, the threat from Russia – it is about an era in which the hope of radical change is being buried.

Kyiv, 1919: amid the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, young Samson, recently orphaned, joins the new Soviet police almost by...

Kyiv, 1919: amid the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, young Samson, recently orphaned, joins the new Soviet police almost by accident. His first case is extremely mysterious: he puzzles over a sliced-off ear, a bone made of pure silver and a suit of fine English cloth. But these are dangerous times, and every day brings fresh surprises. Luckily, Samson meets clever Nadezhda: she helps him with his investigation, and he soon finds himself falling in love with her.