Cause for celebration Ukrainians mark the Slavic festival of Semyk in the mid-19th century. Yaroslav Hrytsak’s book lifts the lid on all aspects of Ukrainian culture – from bread and poetry to language and folk songs
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Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation
by Yaroslav Hrytsak, translated by Dominique Hoffman Sphere, 448 pages, £25
Ukraine has been at the epicentre of world-shaping events for hundreds of years, from the rise of the east-central European empires in the 18th century to the revolutions and wars of the 20th. Today, it again finds itself at the heart of global affairs.