The Cossack Myth
History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires

The fascinating story of The History of the Rus', one of the most influential historical texts of the modern era.

Serhii Plokhy (Author)

9781107449039, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 July 2014

408 pages, 13 b/w illus. 4 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.54 kg

'Serhii Plohky has written one of the most important and captivating monographs on modern Ukrainian history and the Ukrainian-Russian relationship to come out in recent years. For the general reader, the tome is cast as a fascinating search for clues that begins with numerous theories on the authorship, time of composition and purpose of the 'History' before Plohky elegantly lays out his own theories by taking the reader through the steps by which he came to his views.' Frank Sysyn, The Russian Review

In the years following the Napoleonic Wars, a mysterious manuscript began to circulate among the dissatisfied noble elite of the Russian Empire. Entitled The History of the Rus', it became one of the most influential historical texts of the modern era. Attributed to an eighteenth-century Orthodox archbishop, it described the heroic struggles of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Alexander Pushkin read the book as a manifestation of Russian national spirit, but Taras Shevchenko interpreted it as a quest for Ukrainian national liberation, and it would inspire thousands of Ukrainians to fight for the freedom of their homeland. Serhii Plokhy tells the fascinating story of the text's discovery and dissemination, unravelling the mystery of its authorship and tracing its subsequent impact on Russian and Ukrainian historical and literary imagination. In so doing he brilliantly illuminates the relationship between history, myth, empire and nationhood from Napoleonic times to the fall of the Soviet Union.

Introduction
Part I. The Mystery: 1. A call for freedom
2. The Cossack annals
3. The birth of the myth
Part II. On a Cold Trail: 4. A noble heart
5. The Cossack prince
6. The Kyiv manuscript
Part III. Pieces of a Puzzle: 7. A matter of time
8. Uncovering the motive
9. How did he do it?
10. The Cossack treasure
Part IV. Unusual Suspects: 11. People and places
12. The Cossack aristocrats
13. The liberated gentry
14. A history teacher
Part V. A Family Circle: 15. A missing name
16. Family matters
17. The rivals
Epilogue
Appendix: Cossack family networks.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], European history [HBJD], History [HB]