Key Baltic history work by Tartu professor now in Russian, too
The University of Tartu Press has published a Russian-language version of the monograph A History of the Baltic States by Andres Kasekamp.
A History of the Baltic States which was originally published in English in 2010, followed by an Estonian print in 2011, is the first general treatment of the history of the Baltic States written by a single author. It takes an integrative and comparative approach to tracing the history of all three Baltic states starting from the arrival of the first inhabitants in the region, the conquest of Livonia in the Northern Crusades and Lithuania’s rise to become one of medieval Europe’s greatest states, to the incorporation of the region into the Russian Empire and the creation of their modern national identities.
Drawing upon the most recent scholarship, Kasekamp pays particular attention to the tumultuous 20th century, during which the Baltic States achieved independence, but also endured occupation by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The book also gives an overview of how the Baltic States recovered their statehood and transformed themselves into members of the European Union.
Kasekamp believes that the different interpretation of recent history may make the wide distribution of the book in Russia rather challenging. There are also practical questions of finding distributors. However, readers can order it online from University of Tartu Press.
The book has been also published already in Finland, Latvia, Poland and Japan and has won several awards. Andres Kasekamp was born into an Estonian family in Toronto, Canada. He has been Professor of Baltic Politics at the University of Tartu since 2004 and has also served as Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute. His main research interests are extreme-right movements and contemporary Baltic political history.
Editor: S. Tambur