ralphz 's review for:

Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine by Anne Applebaum

5.0

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"Red Famine: Stalin's War On Ukraine" is about a tragedy that was actually denied for years. It clearly explains the relationship and animosity between the two nations, as Russia considered Ukraine nothing but a province, the language nothing but a dialect, and the culture nonexistent. The author is visionary enough to have predicted invasion 5 years before it happened.

But the bulk of the book is about the devastating tragedy - yes, genocide - of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33.

It's mind-boggling that it could have happened like it did but the evidence is clear: Stalin allowed - and encouraged - the famine that killed around 4 million people in Ukraine, mainly to prevent nationalism from taking hold.

So much devastation, unnecessary deaths, and long-term effects. According to the book, girls born in 1933 averaged a lifespan of 8 years. Boys lived 5 years. More than a generation was lost when you consider the children never born.

Ukraine has suffered so long and so much to finally gain control of its own future - and Russia again attempted to take it away.

Absolutely worth reading to understand the news today and what might happen tomorrow.