Ukrainians turn to history books, Serhii Plokhy tops bestseller lists

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, major chain bookstores have seen interest surge for Ukrainian historical nonfiction literature.

This trend has been observed at Yakaboo, Ukraine’s largest online bookstore, as well as at Bookstore Ye (Knyharnia Ye), Knyholand, and the Family Leisure Club (Klub Simeynoho Dozvillia).

Serhii Plokhy, Yaroslav Hrytsak, and Volodymyr Viatrovych lead the bestsellers list. Among the top 10 bestsellers, only one was penned by a non-Ukrainian writer.

Yevhen Volovichenko, director of Yakaboo, reported a 24% increase in sales of history publications compared to 2020-2021. Reader interest peaked in 2022 and again in February 2023, marking the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war’s new phase. 

At  Bookstore Ye, sales of historical literature surged tenfold over the past two years, while Family Leisure Club reported visible growth, including a doubling of sales of historian Serhii Plokhy’s book “The Gates of Europe” in 2023 compared to 2022. 

The list of the most popular books include:

• “The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine” by Serhii Plokhy (bestseller at Knyholand, Yakaboo, Knyharnia Ye, and the Family Leisure Club) 
• “Our Century: Brief Essays on a Long War” by Volodymyr Viatrovych (bestseller at Knyholand) 
• “An Outline of the History of Ukraine: The Formation of a Modern Nation in the 19th-20th Centuries” by Yaroslav Hrytsak (bestseller at Yakaboo) 
• “A Brief History of Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation” by Yaroslav Hrytsak (bestseller at Knyholand) 
• “Rebellion Against the Empire: Ukrainian Sixtiers” by Radomyr Mokryk (bestseller at Yakaboo) 
• “The History of Europe: A Ukrainian Perspective” by Vitaliy and Dmytro Kapranov (bestseller at Yakaboo) 
• “The Russo-Ukrainian War: Return of History” by Serhii Plokhy (bestseller at the Family Leisure Club) 
• “Victory or Death: The Ukrainian Liberation Movement in 1939-1960” by Ivan Patryliak (bestseller at the Family Leisure Club) 
• “Ukraine: A History with the Label ‘Top Secret'” by Volodymyr Viatrovych (bestseller at the Family Leisure Club) 
• “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari (bestseller at Knyharnia Ye)

The book “Rebellion Against the Empire” by Radomyr Mokryk is set to be published this year in German by ibidem-Verlag / ibidem Press.

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Source: Forbes

Main image: Oleksandr Karasiov for Forbes

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn, Terra Friedman King