Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
A distinctive writer’s fascinating journey into the heart of a troubled region, tracing the origins of the war that is now tearing Europe apart.
Each time Ukraine has rebuilt itself over the last century, it has been plagued by the same conflicts: corruption, poverty, and, most of all, Russian aggression. Sophie Pinkham saw all this and more during ten years in Ukraine and Russia, a period that included the Maidan revolution of 2013–14, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the ensuing war in Donbass.
With a keen eye for the dark absurdities of post-Soviet society, Pinkham presents a dynamic account of contemporary Ukrainian life. She meets—among others—a charismatic doctor helping to smooth the transition to democracy even as he struggles with drug dependence; a band of Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian hippies in a Crimean idyll; and a Jewish clarinetist agitating for Ukrainian liberation. These fascinating personalities, rendered in a bold, original style, deliver an indelible impression of a country on the brink.
Black Square is necessary reading for anyone who wishes to learn the roots of the current Russo-Ukrainian war and the stories of the people who live it every day.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
As an aid worker in Siberia and later in Kiev, Sophie Pinkham fell in love with post-Soviet Ukraine for its rich history, diverse culture, and optimism for an uncertain future. Black Square chronicles her love affair with this shifting society, culminating in the bloody 2014 Maidan revolution. Pinkham's journey through political upheaval is accompanied by an eccentric cast of characters. It’s unexpected, illuminating, and totally riveting.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pinkham, who has written on Ukraine for the New Yorker, has a reporter's incisive eye and gives a rich and fascinating view of post-Soviet Ukrainian life. She studied Russian and volunteered with health groups in college, and, after graduating in the early 2000s, was in search of purpose. She took a job with the Open Society Institute, working on an education and treatment program for drug users to combat the AIDS epidemic. Pinkham eventually moves to Ukraine a country whose "horse-drawn carts and babushkas survived" alongside newfound wealth and a growing totalitarian state and falls in love with it. She's astute in her observations as she takes a close look at Ukraine's complex history and often hostile relationship with Russia. Pinkham is increasingly aware of the ever-present corruption and growing instability in Ukraine, and she examines the Maidan revolution and Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the continuing war in eastern Ukraine. Pinkham's look at Ukraine is accessible and comprehensive.
