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Features text and accompanying photographs of artifacts recovered from the bronze age in Europe, including figurines, jewelry, weapons, and armor

A New York Times bestseller, this definitive history of Ukraine is “an exemplary account of Europe’s least-known large country” (Wall Street Journal). As Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing struggle with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence, celebrated historian Serhii Plokhy explains that today’s crisis is a case of history repeating itself: the Ukrainian conflict is only the latest in a long history of turmoil over Ukraine’s sovereignty. Situated between Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, Ukraine has been shaped by empires that exploited the nation as a strategic gateway between East and West—from the Romans and Ottomans to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. In The Gates of Europe, Plokhy examines Ukraine’s search for its identity through the lives of major Ukrainian historical figures, from its heroes to its conquerors. This revised edition includes new material that brings this definitive history up to the present. As Ukraine once again finds itself at the center of global attention, Plokhy brings its history to vivid life as he connects the nation’s past with its present and future.

Heaven, Heroes and Happiness explores Western culture and its pervasive ideology while tracing its roots back to an ancient Proto-Indo-European homeland. This book explores ancient myth, the evidence of language history, and the archaeological record in an endeavor to show that the origin of Western civilization lies much deeper than had been anticipated. Contents: Patterns and Themes of Indo-European Ideology; Unveiling the Indo-European Legacy; The Ideology of Tripartite Completeness; Class, Conflict, and Compromise; 'Fear God'; Heroes with a Cause; The Pursuit of Happiness; Origins and Destinies Reinterpreted; In the Beginning; Ancient Myth in Disguise; The Armageddon Cycle; Indo-European Expansion and Ideological Impact; Twilight of the Goddess; A Collision of Cultures; Linguistic Paleontology; Quest for a Homeland.

A daring literary masterpiece and winner of the National Book Award In this magnificent work of fiction, acclaimed author William T. Vollmann turns his trenchant eye on the authoritarian cultures of Germany and the USSR in the twentieth century to render a mesmerizing perspective on human experience during wartime. Through interwoven narratives that paint a composite portrait of these two battling leviathans and the monstrous age they defined, Europe Central captures a chorus of voices both real and fictional— a young German who joins the SS to fight its crimes, two generals who collaborate with the enemy for different reasons, the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich and the Stalinist assaults upon his work and life.