New
Book Honours Dr. Zenon Kohut
The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian
Studies Press has published a new book, Synopsis: A Collection of Essays in
Honour of Zenon E. Kohut.
The collection, edited by
Serhii Plokhy and Frank E. Sysyn, was presented to Dr. Zenon Kohut on the
occasion of his sixtieth birthday in recognition of his scholarly work in
Ukrainian history and his efforts as director of CIUS.
The title, Synopsis,
is taken from a seventeenth-century historical work that is one of the subjects
of Zenon Kohut’s research.
The collection opens with
an intellectual biography of Dr. Kohut, who is a prolific writer with
wide-ranging interests, by the Kharkiv historian Volodymyr Kravchenko. It
contains 22 articles contributed by Dr. Kohut’s colleagues from five countries
and a bibliography of his works by Taras Kurylo.
The contributions cover
periods from a wide span of Ukrainian history–from the medieval period to the
twentieth century–and deal with many diverse topics. Representing the earliest
era is an article on titles of Eastern European medieval rulers by Iaroslav
Isaievych. There are also a number of articles on the Cossacks in the
seventeenth century. Rev. Yurii Mytsyk’s
translation of a Polish verse describing the 1655 battle of “Dryzhypole”
between the Poles and the Cossacks is one example, as is Paul Bushkovitch’s
examination of the Ukrainian hetmans’ contacts with figures at the tsar’s court
in
Articles dealing with the
18th century include Volodymyr Kravchenko’s examination of current
interpretations of the late eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century Istoriia
Rusov, and Frank E. Sysyn’s analysis of Samiilo Velychko’s treatment of the
Poles in his Skazanye o voine z poliakamy.
A number of articles also
cover the nineteenth century; among them are Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak’s study
of Galician peasants’ attitude to the tsarist regime and Yaroslav Hrytsak’s
study of how Ivan Franko’s Boryslav cycle reflects the events of the
1880s in that region. However, articles, such as Olga Andriewska’s on the
formation of the “Generation of 1917,” which pertain to the twentieth century,
make up the largest part of the book.
The range of topics and
the wealth of information and ideas contained in Synopsis make is a
fitting tribute to Dr. Kohut. It is also an interesting tome for anyone who has
a broad interest in Ukrainian studies and enjoys a stimulating, academic read.
The
clothbound, hardcover book costs $44.95; the softcover version is available as
volume 29, nos. 1–2 of the Journal of Ukrainian Studies for $28.00. Order them
online (at www.utoronto.ca/cius); by e-mail (at cius@ualberta.ca); telephone
(780-492-2973) or fax (780-492-4967); or by mail: CIUS Press, 450