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| GUIDE BOOKS ON UKRAINE |
UKRAINE - THE BRADT TRAVEL GUIDE 328 pgs (by Andrew Evans): www.bradtguides.com
About the author: Andrew Evans has lived, worked and wandered in Ukraine as a missionary, consultant,
academic, NATO analyst, and travel writer. He completed his postgraduate work in Russian and East European
studies at Oxford University, where he wrote and lectured on Ukrainian politics, history and culture. His book:
Ukraine: The Bradt Travel Guide is the most comprehensive, travel guide book printed about Ukraine.
UKRAINE - Lonely Planet 218 pgs (by Sarah Johnston): www.lonelyplanet.com
About the author: Sarah Johnstone had her first brush with the USSR and Russian lessons at the age of eight in the bizarre setting of a Soviet cruise ship sailing from her native Australia. She was a latecomer to independent Ukraine, venturing there for the first time as a journalist at the end of the 1990’s. The place got her hooked — she had to come back and did so repeatedly, most recently to write this guide. Before signing with Lonely Planet, 10 books ago in 2002, London-based-Sarah worked (to mention a few) at Reuters and Business Traveller.
Culture and Customs of Ukraine 224 pages (by Adriana Helbig): www.amazon.com
 About the authors:
ADRIANA HELBIG is Assistant Professor of Music and Affiliated Faculty with the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University (2005) where she has also taught in the Ukrainian Studies Program. Her articles on Romani (Gypsy) music, postsocialist cultural policy, and global hiphop have appeared in edited collections and journals such as Yearbook for Traditional Music, Current Musicology, and Anthropology of East Europe Review.
OKSANA BURANBAEVA is coauthor of the book Cultures of the World: Dagestan and has worked for international organizations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She is a graduate of Columbia University's Harriman Institute, a leading center for the advancement of knowledge in the field of Russian and Eurasian studies.
VANJA MLADINEO holds a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Certificate from its East Central European Center. She has professional experience in thepublic and nonprofit sectors and has done policy research in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She is a corecipient of the 2006 AAAS Title VIII Honorable Mention award for an outstanding policy paper on Eurasian Affairs.
Description: Ukraine’s tumultuous history has left it standing on unstable ground, wrought with the devastation of the 20th Century’s wars, famines, and other struggles. Today, life in Ukraine is moving forward, stepping out of the shadows of Communism and into a modern, urban, and multicultural light, finally gaining for itself a sense of national identity. Now a cultural hotspot that serves as a crossroads between Europe and Asia, Ukraine’s traditions of yesterday are evolving into today’s daily life and customs. You will have the opportunity to delve into Ukraine’s modern society by looking at its religious practices, language conflicts, gender issues, education policies, and media censorship struggles, as well as its cuisine, holidays, literature, music, and performing arts. A thorough and unique investigation of this young country, Culture and Customs of Ukraine is an absolute must for persons traveling to Ukraine.
If you are an extensive traveler, and have been everywhere, Ukraine may be just what you’re looking for. It is now probably the best “buy” in Europe (due to the favorable exchange rate) and time for you to enjoy a memorable trip to this newly emerging "it spot" European destination. Ukraine is Europe’s second largest country, so don’t expect to see it all in one short trip. The relative newness of the Ukrainian tourism industry to Westerners means that many tours are provided by locally–based operators, rather than some of the larger international tour companies. Some US and Canadian-based companies will only run tours if a large enough group is put together.
Although it is a politically young country, the architectural and historical legacies of Ukraine’s position in the former Soviet Union and Poland are prolific. Highlights of this beautiful nation–state include its capital, cosmopolitan Kyiv (yes, that famous garlic–filled chicken cutlet does have a home), the resort area of Yalta — where Russian czars once took their summer vacations in ornate palaces and castles (and where Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt carved up Europe after World War II), the Crimean coastline (Sevastopol, and Balaclava) — the Ukrainian version of the French Riviera, the Carpathian Mountains – liked to mini Swiss Alps, Odessa — the Black Sea's major port city and Lviv — a city of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Italianate and Neoclassical architectural masterpieces.
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