To understand Ukraine and its people, it’s worth turning to literature that reflects the country’s history, culture, and the modern challenges it faces. Our selection includes works by internationally renowned scholars as well as contemporary Ukrainian authors.
Serhii Plokhy – The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine
A sweeping journey through millennia of Ukrainian history—from ancient times to the present day. The author, a Harvard professor and until July 2025 the director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, explains how Ukrainian national identity was formed and why Ukraine has always been an inseparable part of the European world. This is not a dry textbook but an engaging narrative that helps readers understand who Ukrainians are and why today’s Ukraine is the way we know it. A must-have for anyone beginning to explore Ukrainian history!
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Gates-Europe-History-Ukraine/dp/0141980613
A sweeping journey through millennia of Ukrainian history—from ancient times to the present day. The author, a Harvard professor and until July 2025 the director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, explains how Ukrainian national identity was formed and why Ukraine has always been an inseparable part of the European world. This is not a dry textbook but an engaging narrative that helps readers understand who Ukrainians are and why today’s Ukraine is the way we know it. A must-have for anyone beginning to explore Ukrainian history!
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Gates-Europe-History-Ukraine/dp/0141980613
Anne Applebaum – Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine
A powerful and at times shocking account of the background and course of the Holodomor, one of the most terrible tragedies of 20th-century Europe. Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Anne Applebaum lays bare Stalin’s criminal policy aimed at destroying Ukraine’s peasantry. A painful book, but essential to understanding the truth about Ukraine and its past.
🔗 https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/26665/file.pdf
A powerful and at times shocking account of the background and course of the Holodomor, one of the most terrible tragedies of 20th-century Europe. Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Anne Applebaum lays bare Stalin’s criminal policy aimed at destroying Ukraine’s peasantry. A painful book, but essential to understanding the truth about Ukraine and its past.
🔗 https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/26665/file.pdf
Yaroslav Hrytsak & Nadiyka Herbish – The Great Ukrainian Christmas Book
A warm yet informative encyclopedia of Christmas that reveals the cultural depth and historical richness of the holiday in Ukraine. It features fascinating descriptions of traditions, unexpected historical insights, authentic recipes, and vivid illustrations. More than just a book, it offers the feeling of Christmas as it was celebrated by Ukrainians for centuries and as it continues to be cherished today.
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Ukrainian-Christmas-Yaroslav-Hrytsak/dp/1408728419
A warm yet informative encyclopedia of Christmas that reveals the cultural depth and historical richness of the holiday in Ukraine. It features fascinating descriptions of traditions, unexpected historical insights, authentic recipes, and vivid illustrations. More than just a book, it offers the feeling of Christmas as it was celebrated by Ukrainians for centuries and as it continues to be cherished today.
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Ukrainian-Christmas-Yaroslav-Hrytsak/dp/1408728419
Treasures of Ukraine: A Nation’s Cultural Heritage
An impressive journey through Ukrainian art and culture, with every page opening a new layer of heritage. From Byzantine icons, wooden churches, and majestic cathedrals to folk crafts and avant-garde masterpieces, this book showcases the rich cultural legacy of Ukraine. Contributions from leading artists, curators, and critics add context, highlighting the nation’s complex history and its impact on the present.
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Treasures-Ukraine-Nations-Cultural-Heritage/dp/0500026033
An impressive journey through Ukrainian art and culture, with every page opening a new layer of heritage. From Byzantine icons, wooden churches, and majestic cathedrals to folk crafts and avant-garde masterpieces, this book showcases the rich cultural legacy of Ukraine. Contributions from leading artists, curators, and critics add context, highlighting the nation’s complex history and its impact on the present.
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Treasures-Ukraine-Nations-Cultural-Heritage/dp/0500026033
Artem Chekh – Absolute Zero (Tochka Nulya)
The soldier’s diary of a young Ukrainian writer who found himself on the front line in 2015. It tells of everyday life in war, quiet pain, self-irony, and honesty. Chekh portrays the modern Ukrainian soldier without myths or embellishments—not as a crushed failure or an idealized epic hero, but as an ordinary person who becomes a hero of our time. A book that makes you see the war and those living through it in a new light.
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Absolute-Zero-Artem-Chekh/dp/1912894688
The soldier’s diary of a young Ukrainian writer who found himself on the front line in 2015. It tells of everyday life in war, quiet pain, self-irony, and honesty. Chekh portrays the modern Ukrainian soldier without myths or embellishments—not as a crushed failure or an idealized epic hero, but as an ordinary person who becomes a hero of our time. A book that makes you see the war and those living through it in a new light.
🔗 https://www.amazon.de/Absolute-Zero-Artem-Chekh/dp/1912894688
Written by
Olha Yatsyshyna
Philologist, PhD in Pedagogical Sciences, lecturer at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University. Olha researches the internationalization of higher education and intercultural communication.
Translated by
Mike Svystun
Software developer, entrepreneur.