Andres Kasekamp’s A History of the Baltic States published in Russian
At the end of 2014, the University of Tartu Press published the Russian-language version of the monograph A History of the Baltic States by Professor of Baltic Politics Andres Kasekamp. Kasekamp considers the distribution of the book in Russia a great challenge.
A History of the Baltic States is the first general treatment of the history of the Baltic States written by one author. It inter-relatedly and comparatively traces 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.
The book that was originally published in English in 2010 in the Palgrave Essential Histories Series of the international academic publishing company Palgrave Macmillan has been supplemented for the Russian reader, has a new preface and describes the events up to 2013. Kasekamp believes that the different interpretation of history may make the distribution of the book in Russia rather challenging.
The book was published in Estonian in 2011. So far, the monograph has been also published in Finnish, Latvian, Polish and Japanese. If negotiations with a Spanish publishing company are successful, the Spanish translation of the book can be expected.
The book was translated into Russian by Ljudmila Dubjeva. The publishing of the Russian version of the monograph was supported by the Publishing Committee of the University of Tartu and the Centre for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS).
Kasekamp’s monograph has received the Baltic Assembly Science Prize, Estonian National Research Award and the book award of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (USA). In 2011, the Estonian-language version of the book reached the top 10 of the best-selling books in Estonia.
For more information about the monograph, see the home page of the University of Tartu Press.
Additional information: Andres Kasekamp, Professor of Baltic Politics, University of Tartu, tel: +372 600 1241, +372 526 7944, email: Andres.Kasekamp [ät] ut.ee.