

In addition, Snyder's clear, engaging, and often witty writing style would make this book a good piece of reading for a casual enthusiast of Polish, Soviet, or European history."-Abby Drwecki, Sarmatian Review The broad time frame covered makes it appropriate for a variety of topical courses.

It would be ideal for an academic setting, such as a graduate or advanced undergraduate survey of Polish or Eastern European history. This book is a tremendous piece of scholarship. "The book challenges popular assumptions about the ways that ethnic nations arise, why ethnic cleansing takes place, and how nations can reconcile. For anyone interested in the ‘lands between’ Germany and Russia, ethnic relations, or the history of modern nationalism, this book is required reading."-Theodore R. Few works provide such a compelling portrait of the complexity of modern national identity, its greatness, and its crimes. An ambitious and sophisticated work deserving a broad readership. "An engaging, sophisticated, and highly readable study that we will be arguing with and against for many years to come. Masterfully woven together and presented in a way that will make this book an invaluable resource for students scholars in other fields, and the general public-not to mention a provocative and enjoyable read for east European historians."-Brian Porter, Slavic Review "This is one of those rare books that challenges conventional wisdom in a way that is accessible to those most likely to be conventionally wise. fastidious historical detail should make all of us more open-minded about which borders in trouble spots are best for living in a future, peaceful world. "Amid heaps of historical detail, Snyder voices core truths of political theory largely absent from media commentary. Effective charts, well-chosen illustrations, and helpful maps ensure the accessibility of the volume to a wide audience. "A valuable study of how the four nations of the subtitle have arisen, how ethnic cleansing has shaped their histories, and how they now try to make regional peace. “An outstanding read.”-John-Paul Himka, American Historical Review A great book for the professional, scholar, student, and curious reader.”-David Goldfrank, The International History Review “ utilizes poetry, monuments, symbols, and mini-biography, and family-and village-centered micro-history to make his points, and he succeeds in integrating a common-sense, democratic, and tolerant morality into a set of essentially objective, parallel story-lines. “ fresh and stimulating look at the path to nationhood.”-Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs This important book is also elegantly written.”-Charles King, Times Literary Supplement “Charting the passages to nationhood and to national reconciliation in this impossibly complex region is the aim of Timothy Snyder’s erudite and engrossing book.
