BOOK NOTES

A tale of a simpler time in Ukraine examines the Orange Revolution

"An Orange Revolution: A Personal Journey Through Ukrainian History" by Askold Krushelnycky. London: Harvill Secker Publishers, ISBN: 0436206234. Paperback, 368 pp. $17.03 US or 8.99 GBP.

by Marta Kolomayets

At a time when the political situation in Ukraine is both incomprehensible and chaotic, this writer recommends that people still interested in Ukraine pick up Askold Krushelnycky's book, "An Orange Revolution: A Personal Journey Through Ukrainian History," published in March.

It is a tale of a simpler time, a time when good and evil were clearly defined for most Ukrainian citizens as they changed the course of Ukraine's history by becoming active participants in the peaceful revolution of the winter of 2004.

It was November 2004 and all the world watched as up to a million people gathered in the center of the capital city to overthrow the corrupt government of President Leonid Kuchma and challenge the dishonest campaign and election methods of his prime minister and Party of the Regions presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych.

Among those carefully watching was British journalist Askold Krushelnycky, who spent most of the fall of 2004 on the campaign trail with such leaders of the Orange Revolution as presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko and the maidan's Joan of Arc, Yulia Tymoshenko.

Mr. Krushelnycky's book is not the only English-language book chronicling the events that led up to and became part of the Orange Revolution - British lecturer Andrew Wilson produced a book titled "Ukraine's Orange Revolution" (Yale University Press) and U.S.-based scholars Anders Aslund and Michael McFaul edited a book called "Revolution in Orange: The Origins of Ukraine's Democratic Breakthrough" (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). However, what makes Mr. Krushelnycky's book a good read is his style, which intertwines his family's 20th century history - and the history of Ukraine - spanning many centuries.

The book is well-researched and heartfelt; the reader feels Mr. Krushelnycky's passion about his Ukrainian roots and his family history. And, of course, it is a good story, as it outlines the struggle between right and wrong. It tells of ordinary people who had the courage to stand up for their rights and refuse to be oppressed. It relates the plight of ordinary people and modern-day heroes with wit and spirit.

Mr. Krushelnycky has reported for more than 25 years for such publications as The Independent, the Sunday Times and the Herald Tribune. He was a war correspondent in Afghanistan in the 1980s and has been a keen observer of Ukrainian politics since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, spending weeks at a time writing about Ukraine's patchy and difficult road to democracy.

Mr. Krushelnycky wrote the book in nine short months, but he continues to be interested in the subject of Ukraine and ponders its future. On the eve of his book's release, which coincided with Ukraine's parliamentary elections, he was interviewed for www.opendemocracy.net by free-lance journalist Toby Saul. The burning question was whether Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko would be able to overcome their differences:

"My personal feeling is that they will because, however egotistic[al] they are, they must understand that on their own they're going to be destroyed," Mr. Krushelnycky replied. "And if they're tempted to make an alliance with Yanukovych, he's going to discard them at the earliest opportunity. Logically, it's a no-brainer for them. They've got to work together and come to some kind of accommodation. Otherwise, it will be a disaster for Ukraine."

"An Orange Revolution" is available at amazon.com.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 13, 2006, No. 33, Vol. LXXIV

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