A beautifully illustrated and comprehensive graphic history of Ukraine’s centuries-long
struggle against Russian domination from the Middle Ages to today’s devastating war by an
award-winning journalist and Ukrainian cultural historian The conflict between Russia and
Ukraine began long before the 2014 war that led to the Russia’s invasion in 2022. The Ukrainian
people have been subjected to genocides—defined as “acts committed with the intent to destroy
in whole or in part a national ethnic racial or religious group”—by the Russian government
across centuries such as the Holodomor famine of the 1930s that left over 3.3 million people
dead. Even the language itself was once a target: The “linguicide” during the 1860s banned
Ukrainian persecuted anyone who spoke the language and methodically erased references to
Ukrainian from historical texts. In A Brief History of a Long War distinguished Ukrainian
scholar activist and journalist Mariam Naiem presents a panoramic overview of the major
moments in this longstanding conflict. Alongside gripping accounts of the historical foundation
of the modern Ukrainian state as we know it today the origin and symbolism of the Cossacks
and more Naiem seamlessly incorporates present-day narratives about the harrowing realities of
war and the lengths citizens must go to survive. Featuring gorgeous illustrations in maliopys
Ukraine’s own comic style by Ukrainian artists Yulia Vus and Ivan Kypibida A Brief History of
a Long War is an ode to the moments of resistance and resilience from the Ukrainian people in
the face of Russia’s oppressive colonial history.
