Publisher's Synopsis
Ukraine is still a terra incognita in the west. This was not always the case, because from the 16th to the 19th century it was firmly on the mental map of Western Europeans. The early image of Ukraine was shaped by the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who played an important military and political role in Europe at that time. When these lost their importance in the 18th century, the Ukrainian peasants increasingly took the place of the Cossacks. Ukraine was no longer part of Poland-Lithuania, but of the Russian Empire and was perceived as a Russian province. The subject of the book are printed matter published in the West, from descriptions of the country by the humanists to early newspapers and historical works to travelogues and fine literature.
