The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus: 1569-1999 Author: Timothy Snyder Publisher: Nanjing University Press

◎Winner of the 2003 American Historical Association George Louis Beale Award, the 2003 Eastern Book Review Award, and the 2004 American Institute for Ukrainian Studies Book Award

◎ Samuel P. Huntington, a well-known scholar of political thought, recommended by International Historical Review, Foreign Affairs, and Times Literary Supplement

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【Content Introduction】

“In Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, one finds all the conceivable causes of ethnic conflict: disintegration of empires, borders without historical legitimacy, defiant minorities, avengers, fearful elites, newly established democracies, memories of ethnic cleansing, and myths of long-standing conflicts.”

Vilnius, Vilnia, or Vilna? In this book, these subtly different names referring to the same city appear at both ends of the same sentence in a seemingly calm manner. They are the background notes of the story told in this book, indicating a whole set of memories, ideas and discourses about "who am I", "where is my motherland" and "what is a nation". Spanning four centuries and four countries, by focusing on this land with a complex ethnic background, extremely diverse political systems, and being torn and even destroyed several times, Snyder attempts to reveal to us the mystery of the transformation of national ideas, tracing how concepts are interpreted, distorted, invented and abused, and how they cause deep suffering and shine with new glory in the process of mutual derivation with more complex external forces. More importantly, the author attempts to find an answer to the ultimate question about the path to the nation: How can we avoid the painful experience on this road?

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【Recommended by media and celebrities】

The Reconstruction of Nations is a brilliant and fascinating analysis of the subtleties, complexities, and contradictions of the evolution of nations in Eastern Europe. It is a profound book for understanding the processes of state collapse and nation building in the world.

—Samuel P. Huntington, author of The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Unique to date in the English-language literature on the multicultural history of northeastern Europe, Snyder offers an alternative reading of the long histories of Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine that explores and explains issues of national identity without falling into the trap of nationalist historiography.

—Brian Porter, Professor of History, University of Michigan

Timothy Snyder's style is a delightful reminder that historical writing can and should indeed be literary.

——The Times Literary Review Supplement

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【Editor's recommendation】

★The first independent work by Timothy Snyder, a heavyweight scholar of Eastern European history, is introduced. It is a representative work of Eastern European history and nationalism research in European and American academic circles.

★Recreate the national narrative and witness the cruelty and brightness in the evolution of the "imagined community".

“In Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, one finds all the conceivable causes of ethnic conflict: disintegration of empires, borders without historical legitimacy, defiant minorities, avengers, fearful elites, newly established democracies, memories of ethnic cleansing, and myths of long-standing conflicts.”

This is a re-examination and annotation of the formation of national character. Snyder boldly places the research object in the historical evolution of four centuries, thus revealing the different directions and paths on this road.

★Extraordinarily precious first-hand historical materials and an academic masterpiece with exquisite narrative.

The author is proficient in six languages ​​of Eastern European countries, which makes the first-hand materials cited in this book all-encompassing, and for the first time in English academic research, fully describes the ethnic cleansing between Ukrainians and Poles from 1943 to 1947. The book contains more than 600 footnotes, as well as graphic materials and table explanations.

Snyder's writing is well-structured, clear and easy to read, and the narrative method interspersed with character clues leads readers into key historical situations.

★A useful supplement to post-war European history.

The third part of the book studies in detail how Poland, as a successful case in Eastern Europe after World War II, not only facilitated reconciliation with Ukraine, Lithuania and other countries through its sophisticated and timely eastern policy, but also achieved the goal of "returning to Europe", becoming a circumstantial evidence of the political, economic and social conditions on the eve of the establishment of the European Union.

★Is it nationalism that leads to ethnic cleansing, or is it ethnic cleansing that labels different groups of people with ethnic groups?

Can the demands of modern national concepts find a more peaceful way of expression?

This book is an effort to respond to the above questions.

About the Author · · · · · ·