This collection of texts by writers, historians, philosophers, political analysts, and opinion leaders combines reflections on Ukrainian history and analyses of the present with outlines of conceptual ideas and life stories. The authors present a multi-faceted image of Ukraine's memory and reality touching upon topics from the Holodomor to Maidan, from the Russian aggression to cultural diversity, from the depth of the past to the complexity of the present. The contributors include Ola Hnatiuk, Irena Karpa, Haska Shyyan, Larysa Denysenko, Hanna Shelest, Andriy Kulakov, Yaroslav Hrytsak, Serhii Plokhy, Yuri Andrukhovych, Andriy Kurkov, Andrij Bondar, Vakhtang Kebuladze, Volodymyr Rafeenko, Alim Aliev, Leonid Finberg, and Andriy Portnov. The book was initially published by Internews Ukraine and UkraineWorld with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
"[The book] includes everyone from internationally renowned academics like Harvard's Serhii Plokhiy to never-before-translated poets, that seek to articulate Ukraine to the wider world. [... It] gives Ukrainians a chance to explain their country themselves, and the Ukraine that emerges is uncannily relevant at a time when so many countries are undergoing identity crises-not least the United States."-Peter Pomerantsev, journalist, author, and TV producer, in The American Interest (January 2020)