Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe by Anne Applebaum (PDF)

Description

In 1991, Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag, Iron Curtain and Red Famine, took a three-month road trip through the borderlands between the fallen Soviet Union and Europe—lands that became Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Moldova. In her iconic reportage, which has become indispensable history, she captures the harrowing story of a region that is once again threatened by Russia.An extraordinary journey into the past and present of the lands east of Poland and west of Russia—an area defined throughout its history by colliding empires. Traveling from the former Soviet naval center of Kaliningrad on the Baltic to the Black Sea port of Odessa, Anne Applebaum encounters a rich range of competing cultures, religions, and national aspirations. In reasserting their heritage, the inhabitants of the borderlands attempt to build a future grounded in their fractured ancestral legacies. In the process, neighbors unearth old conflicts, devote themselves to recovering lost culture, and piece together competing legends to create a new tradition. Rich in surprising encounters and vivid characters, Between East and West brilliantly illuminates the soul of the borderlands and the shaping power of the past.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I have read through this author’s other books she has written recently, about gulags and about the Iron Curtain, so I came across this book with interest. This book is actually almost 20 years old, but it is still relevant that is so typical of Eastern Europe history (where old tensions and divisions seem to be ever present).Here, Applebaum describes here trips through Eastern Europe in the shadow of the Austo-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman empires. This is one of the few books I have read about the areas that isn’t directly related to the Second World War, nor is strictly about politics. It is in fact, a historical journey through these areas with plenty of interesting travelogue and history mixed in.Since the area’s divisions haven’t really changed that much in the last decades since the fall of the Wall, so much of the discussion is still relevant and not dated. So the reading is still interesting.I learned quite a bit, and the book really dovetailed with my own travels and other reading. It is a fascinating read on an area that of course os so relevant to today and is still causing so many concerns. Besides that, I found it a good read.

⭐I shuold star by saying that I disagree with author’ s bad feelings about writing in first person. It mskes the book human and affordable. Nice two dimensional trip : time and space. I would reccomend to anybody asking.

⭐Interesting early travel writing from Anne Applebaum. As she acknowledges in her updated introduction to the book, the places she describes have changed enormously since her visits there in the early 90’s, so it’s certainly not a book to go to get current impressions of those countries. Still, it’s very valuable as a historical snapshot!

⭐This is a reissue of a book describing a trip from Kaliningrad to Odessa across the ‘border’ republics as the Soviet Union comes to an end and its European empire about to collapse. Applebaum is both a marvellous journalist and historian and combines her talents with her knowledge of Polish and Russian to construct a riveting account. It is all the more fascinating to read it in light of knowledge of developments over the last 25 years. Do not miss! Dave Willow

⭐A good raconto of the post II WW of the northern fringe of europe. The interviews and the personal impressions from the author provides a unique feeling of the mess that was left.

⭐A great book for understanding Eastern Europe a little better on a personal level but for full comprehension of the region the author’s other books, Gulag, and Iron Curtain, are required. Overall, I’d have liked a little more on the logistic challenges she faced in traveling the route she took like could a non-Polish/Russian speaker do it with the grace she presents?

⭐while written in the 1990s it gives a good picture of the area today. Interesting to hear the history behind what I see there today.

⭐Anne Applebaum is a wonderful storyteller and observer. Despite being written about a time before the fall of the Berlin Wall, her tale of people and places in Eastern Europe is timeless and priceless.

⭐Riveting travel and history of the Borderlands from Kaliningrad and Lithuania down through Poland, Ukraine ending in Odessa. This journey not long after communism fell in 1990 is a wonderful read. Part personal travelogue but intertwined with a deep understanding of the history who owned which countries through history. Not only that but a young Anne had clearly researched and lined up the most interesting people to meet in the places she visited. My son recommended this as the best book he’d ever read and I agree it’s outstanding. I could not put down. We have visited parts of Ruthenia together – Uzhhorod, Kosice, Bardejov and this bought brought immense pleasure in understanding the region, its people and history. It’s a great read.

⭐Anne, and others like Norman Davies, write with forceful emotion and erudition about the histories of the Poland of their family roots, and this brings unrivalled authenticity and contextual understanding from their writings. As someone of a somewhat bastard and part tragic family history that is Ukrainian, Polish Irish and English, I lap this up, and recommend all of Anne’s books for their genuine voice. Just a little, however, after years of research and reading, especially the more recent many similar stories of the expulsions of Kresy Poles to Siberia, I have developed a slight weariness to the view of European history through a Polish lens. My dream is that we should all learn from Poland’s history and that means forgiving our enemies and welcoming the refugees from the tragedies of today. Anne’s writings always make me feel she has the same dream.

⭐Amazingly Great! I really loved this Video, and a friend, who is a Town Planner, found it so good as he, was interested how the planners of a “New Berlin was making their decisions. Like me, if you love this wonderful City, you will appreciate how it was rebuild after the collapse of the “The Wall”. I wish they would make more DVD’s like this. IT IS WORTH REMEMBERING IT A DOCUMENTARY.

⭐The recent history of E Europe (C20th) fascinates me. This book gives considerable insight into that history and the identities that make up the region. It has added to my knowledge of Europe

⭐Informative and well written.A difficult book to put down for those who are interested in the subject and for those who are curious.

Keywords

Free Download Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe in PDF format
Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe PDF Free Download
Download Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe PDF Free
Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe PDF Free Download
Download Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe PDF
Free Download Ebook Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe