First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the organizers and contributors of this forum; their initiative and work are much appreciated. In the following, I will discuss (not very systematically, I am afraid) several points … Continue reading
The Paradox of Ukrainian Lviv is a superb study of the transformations that multiethnic Lviv (also known as Lwów and Lemberg) went through during and after the Second World War. Based on solid research in Polish, German, Ukrainian, and Russian … Continue reading
In this thoroughly researched monograph, Tarik Cyril Amar examines the turbulent, violent processes which transformed the multi-ethnic borderland city previously known as Lemberg (in German) or Lwów (in Polish) into the Soviet and Ukrainian city of Lviv. While the city … Continue reading
I’d like to thank the organizers of the Second World Modernity project for affording me the opportunity to review this book, which I read with great interest and some trepidation. As a specialist in Modern Chinese urban history, my grasp … Continue reading
We’re pleased to introduce our discussion of Tarik Cyril Amar’s book, The Paradox of Ukrainian Lviv: A Borderland City between Stalinists, Nazis and Nationalists (Cornell University Press, 2015) that has triggered a lively historiographical debate since its publication in 2015. Based on extensive archival … Continue reading
First of all, I want to thank: Steve Harris and Steve Barnes for taking the time to organize these blog conversations; Ana, Ekaterina, Asif, Wilson, and Jeff for taking the time to read my book with such care and offer … Continue reading
There is a lot to say about Alan Barenberg’s deeply researched book Gulag Town, Company Town: Forced Labor and Its Legacy in Vorkuta, partly because there are so many ways to approach it critically as a work of scholarship. The … Continue reading
Alan Barenberg’s fascinating book Gulag Town, Company Town presents different stages in the life of the town of Vorkuta. The story is based on rich archival material and numerous interviews, mostly with former Gulag prisoners or their relatives. In the … Continue reading
The study of one city as a litmus test for broader issues is becoming very widespread because a particular urban case gives an excellent opportunity to trace the formation and unexpected intersections of different processes on the ground level over … Continue reading
In recent years, scholars have demonstrated the critical role that the Gulag played in building socialism under Stalin, the exercise of power and ideology in this totalitarian regime, and ordinary people’s interactions with the Stalinist state. While much of the Gulag’s … Continue reading
