Cover of Between East and West

Between East and West

First published 1994

About the book

An extraordinary journey into the past and present of the lands east of Poland and west of Russia – an area defined throughout its history by colliding empires, and only now emerging from the clamp of Soviet rule.

Traveling from the former Soviet naval center of Kaliningrad on the Baltic to the Black Sea port of Odessa, Anne Applebaum encounters a rich range of competing cultures, religions, and national aspirations as inhabitants of the borderlands attempt to build a future grounded in their ancestral legacies.

Read the full description

In reasserting their heritage, neighbors often unearth old conflicts: in Vilnius, a Lithuanian professor charts a historical conspiracy against his language by the Poles, while his Polish neighbors rail against the Lithuanian determination to deny their ancient claims to the city.

In Minsk, a young “post-modernist” couple, seeking a rallying point for Belarusian nationalism, piece together cultures and legends to create tradition where none is remembered, while another resident of the city devotes himself to recovering the Jewish culture that once predominated.

Anne Applebaum, born 1964, United States.

Subjects

Catalogue record

Author
Applebaum, Anne, 1964–
Statement
Between East and West / Anne Applebaum.

Book facts

Pages
314
ISBN
978-0-14-197923-6
4 more ISBNs
  • 978-0-14-197922-9
  • 978-0-517-15906-4
  • 978-0-679-42150-4
  • 978-0-525-43318-7
Records
Open Library

Catalogue data checked 3 October 2026