Alexander J. Motyl
Mychailo Wynnyckyj's magnificent account of Ukraine's 2014 Revolution of Dignity easily surpasses every other book on the subject and sets a standard of excellence that will be hard to beat. Wynnyckyj brings to his analysis a unique combination of viewpoints. As a Ukrainian Canadian who has made Kyiv his home, he offers the perspective of native Ukrainians. As a participant in both Ukrainian uprisings, those of 2004 and of 2014, he offers an insider's view. And as a superb scholar well-versed in Western social science, he can place the events he witnessed and made into a theoretical context that explains just why Ukraine's 2014 upheaval was of world-historical importance. Get rid of all your other books on the Ukrainian Revolution, read Wynnyckyj, and get ready to be enlightened.
Michael D. Kennedy
Durgaing the Maidan demonstrations and their aftermath, I eagerly awaited Mychailo Wynnyckyj’s blog updates—they offered what engaged intellectuals can do best. He not only communicated the ‘feel’ of revolution’s possibility, and anxiety, but also helped us to appreciate the broader conditions and more general significance of this great transformation in Ukraine. With time to reflect, Wynnyckyj has lost neither of these great qualities, but in this book added another we so desperately need. He has written a text inscribing Ukraine’s place in a global history and political philosophy that moves dignity and hope to the center of our time’s narrative, even when war and violence surround. This volume, then, is not only for those aware of Ukraine’s importance. His agent-centered account also could guide those looking to develop their own knowledge activism suitable for shaping alternative futures in other parts of the world. Ukraine, and Wynnyckyj, inspire.
Timothy D. Snyder
Many of the major trends of international politics in the twenty-first century are best seen from Ukraine. Understanding the Ukrainian revolution of 2013–2014 and the Russian invasion that followed are absolutely essential to any informed discussion of the state of the world. This book, rich in chronology, evidence, scholarly analysis, and human insight, is a major step toward such an understanding. It should be widely read by those interested in Eastern Europe, the European Union, digital war, and the possibilities for new forms of politics.
Vlad Mykhnenko
Back in early 2014, hundreds of people regularly read, examined, and shared Mychailo Wynnyckyj's blogpost 'Thoughts from Kyiv'. For the concerned contemporaries, it was a priceless source of information – a first-hand on the ground account of a truly historical drama, which opened with an inspirational and tragic EuroMaidan in Kyiv, proceeded with the Russian occupation of the Crimea, and culminated in the eastern bloodlands of Ukraine’s Donbas. By writing the Revolution of Dignity, the author allows today’s reader to relive the tumultuous, heart-breaking, and emotional story of Ukraine’s Maidan and Russia’s war. Friends of Ukraine shall find here the reason for being optimistic. Ukraine’s foes shall learn about her indestructible spirit.
Andrew Wilson
Wynnyckyj’s excellent book is a major contribution to the debate about the tumultuous events of 2013–14. It is even two books in one. The first provides the insights and detailed chronology of a well-grounded eyewitness that have been sorely missing in most accounts to date. The second adds an analytical perspective. Wynnyckyj argues that the Maidan was neither geopolitical, conspiratorial, or material; but ideational and a ‘great’, nation-building revolution, most like the American War of Independence, and an exemplar of heterarchical identities and mobilisations of broader relevance to all students of social change.
