It Was a Long Time Ago, and It Never Happened Anyway by David Satter – Russia and the Communist Past – was another book I read for my studies. This is such a lovely book and the author is a journalist, so the style is…
Secret police files from the Eastern bloc by Valentina Glajar, Alison Lewis, Corina Petrescu – Between surveillance and life writing – is a must read book. It’s a short book, of just over 200 pages, on communist secret police services with a focus on the…
The pathologisation of homosexuality in fascist Italy by Gabriella Romano – The Case of ‘G’ – is a short book I read for my studies. Because of the writing and the topic I don’t think it will have a large appeal/interest, so I will say…
Diary of an Invasion by Andrey Kurkov is such a good book. Andrey was born in russia, but he feels Ukrainian. He wrote a few books so far and, while this is the first book I read by him it will not be the last.…
Bloc Life by Peter Molloy – Stories from the Lost World of Communism – is a book on three members of the Eastern Bloc – East Germany, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. It showcases how life was in these countries during the Cold War. It presents a…
Approaching an Auschwitz Survivor by Jürgen Matthäus – Holocaust Testimony and its Transformations – is a compilation of 5 essays on the testimony of a Holocaust survivor. Each chapter is written by an expert in Holocaust, Atina Grossmann, Konrad Kwiet, Wendy Lower, Jurgen Matthaus, and…
Conflict Landscapes by Salvatore Garfi – an Archaeology of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War – was a book I read for my studies. I read a lot on the Spanish civil war, so another take on the conflict, which focuses on the…
Live. Fight. Survive by Shaun Pinner – An ex-British soldier’s account of courage, resistance and defiance fighting for Ukraine against Russia – is a must read. I bought the book almost as it went out. It was only published 3 weeks ago. I was eager…
Spies by Calder Walton – The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West – is a timely book, well worth reading. It shows an incredible history of spying, between US, UK, russia, and more recently, China. While the history covers about 100 years, the cold…
The Rooster House by Victoria Belim – My Ukrainian Family Story, A Memoir – is such a wonderful book. It is a memoir written by an Ukrainian who lived most of her life in US and Belgium. She went back to Ukraine to search her…
You Don’t Know What War Is by Yeva Skalietska is a short diary kept by a 12 year old Ukrainian girl who fled Ukraine after russia’s full-scale invasion. I hoped that I would enjoy it when I saw it on the shelves at the library…
Borderland by Anna Reid – A Journey Through the History of Ukraine – is a book recommended even by some Ukrainians. I understand the appeal. It is more of a story than a history book, that some might find dry, so it makes sense that…
Hitler, Stalin, mum and dad by Daniel Finkelstein – a family memoir of miraculous survival – is a fantastic book. His mother, Mirjam, was born in Germany to Alfred and Margarete Wiener. Her father started cataloguing Nazi crimes since 1933, even before they moved to…
The Holodomor by Charles River Editors – The History and Legacy of the Ukrainian Famine Engineered by the Soviet Union – is a short book that is well worth reading. It offers a good insight into Holodomor, but in a very short version, perfect for…
The death of a soldier told by his sister by Olesya Khromeychuk is a lovely, emotional, beautifully written memoir. It is not a biography of her brother nor is it about the war in Ukraine, these are secondary to the memoir. The focus is on…
The Gates of Europe by Serhii Plokhy – A History of Ukraine – is a book I read to accompany the course Timothy Snyder gave at Yale and that is available online, alongside the reading list. I would have read this book regardless, as it…