It was great to come out of my comfort zone in terms of historical reads and to learn about the background of Ukraine as a nation.  

I cannot lie.  I found everything prior to 1914 to be quite dry and a bit of a slog to get through.  Once we hit the war and interwar years, I found it easier to grab on to and read through the text.  

I was really taken aback by the sheer violence behind the formation of Ukraine.  Each large section is interspersed by 'interludes', smaller chapters focusing on specific aspects of Ukrainian history.  The interlude, 'A Brief History of Violence' was absolutely gut-wrenching.  It will never cease to shock me just how evil human beings can be to each other, and its account of the pogroms gave me a further understanding of why the state of Israel was created.  

I also read this to better understand Ukrainian identity and the dynamics between them and Russia and what has led them to fight so hard against Putin and his forces.  It seems utterly bizarre that all through history, Russian leaders have had such a hard time acknowledging that Ukraine is a nation.  It also talks about how Ukrainian nationalism was often likened to nazism.  This makes me wonder if this is where Putin gets his ideas from.  

The chapters about the 20th century onwards were excellent - anything prior to that I struggled with.  It just failed to hook my interest.