Historical Atlas of Central Europe. Rev. ed.

Jaroslaw Zurowsky is a translator and editor in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Historical Atlas of Central Europe provides an overview of Central
European history from about 400 A.D. to the present. The region’s
history is presented through maps that show the area’s migratory
patterns and emphasize how fluid the borders were. The book includes
many interesting facts, but there are also major shortcomings. The most
blatant one is found in the discussion of 19th-century life. In 1848,
serfdom was abolished in the Austrian Empire, allowing people to leave
subsistence-farming operations and head to industrial centres in search
of better economic opportunities. The serfdom issue—its introduction,
the rebellion against it, and its abolishment—is not addressed by the
author. And whereas Dr. Magocsi discusses the Ancient Greek and Roman
influence on the region, he does not mention the Scythian legacy.
Finally, his biases are evident in the bibliography, which includes the
Soviet Ukrains’ka radians’ka entsykopediia but not the Encyclopedia
of Ukraine published in Canada.