My book, The Land of Tears and Hope, comes out November 10. You can pre-order it here: geni.us/tearsandhope

Because, really, who could possibly be better suited to illustrate a book about Ukraine's historical destiny than perhaps the greatest Ukrainian in history, the spiritual father and great poetic voice of his people?

In my upcoming book, an entire major section is devoted to Taras Shevchenko, his extraordinary life, and his legacy for Ukraine. It is titled "A Ukrainian Prayer." And I am also delighted that the entire book is illustrated with drawings and paintings by Shevchenko himself.

Like a blinding flash of fire in the darkness, Shevchenko inspired other great writers and thinkers of the 19th century to rediscover their Ukrainian roots, not only to begin creating literature, but also to contemplate Ukraine's independence, statehood, and liberation from imperial rule.

He did not merely create his celebrated collection of poetry, Kobzar, whose very title evokes one of the central figures of Ukrainian folk tradition: the blind, wandering bard who sang ballads of Ukraine's long and sorrowful history.

Tsar Nicholas I personally ordered that he be forbidden to write or paint. Yet Shevchenko continued composing poetry in secret, hiding his tiny notebooks in his boots. His poetry contains dozens, even hundreds, of iconic lines and expressions that every Ukrainian knows from early childhood.

He never stopped creating his remarkable poetry, even behind prison walls, and later when he was condemned to military service in the Russian army, seemingly for life, in the remote steppes of Central Asia, thousands of miles from his homeland.

But Shevchenko, himself only recently a serf, managed to accomplish something extraordinary: he became not merely one of the founders of modern Ukrainian literature and literary language, but the true spiritual father and prophet of the emerging Ukrainian nation.

He was not the first to pick up a pen around the turn of the 19th century, return to his people's roots, and begin writing poetry in Ukrainian: the language of ordinary people, of peasants, of the very earth and sky of Ukraine.

And this young man, who had received little more than a basic education from village church clerks, also wrote deeply moving, epic poetry about the fierce battles of Ukraine's Cossack past, the mighty, roaring Dnipro River, and the tragic fate of Ukrainian women bound by the chains of serfdom.

An ordinary orphan boy born into a poor family of serfs in the very heart of Ukraine in the first half of the 19th century, he was fortunate enough to be bought out of serfdom by sympathetic members of high society in imperial St. Petersburg, thanks to his remarkable talent for painting.

I don't think it would be particularly controversial to say that Taras Shevchenko occupies a place in the Ukrainian national tradition at least as important and fundamental, if not more so, as Adam Mickiewicz does in Poland, Shakespeare in England, or Walt Whitman in the United States.

Today, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language. It is difficult to overstate the importance of a figure like Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s great national poet, to the Ukrainian language, literature, and indeed to Ukrainian identity and statehood as a whole.

Wow, I just found out that Amazon has selected my upcoming book, The Land of Tears and Hope, as one of its Editors' Picks for the Best History Books of November! “A transporting and meditative read on Ukraine—this emotional narrative adds heft to the headlines,” writes Amazon editor Lindsay Powers.

You think Comrade Calendars is joking? We genuinely claim we invaded Moldova in 1992 as a response to NATO expansion in 1997. Hence why the linearity of time is an imperialist construct.

Alina Pereverzieva 🇺🇦@perevaa.bsky.social · yesterday

Britain and France got involved in 1854. Clearly, NATO was provoking Russia before it existed.

The new Senator from Minnesota. The new Representative from Indiana. We don’t have to scapegoat people to win!

A bad day for the Fox News worldview is a good day to listen to our new episode

Origin Story@originstorypodcast.bsky.social · yesterday

📰 New episode out 📰 @iandunt.bsky.social and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social bring Rupert Murdoch's story up to the present day. How has Fox News shaped the US? And what happens to his empire when he's gone? Listen / watch ➡️ linktr.ee/originstoryp...

Austin, Texas sounds like an Eastern European city that just overthrew a dictator. #midterms2026 #election2026

Jared booking tickets to Dubai while Don Jr asks Grok "what's a suppeena?"

This whole mess just shows that racism is baked into the UK government and society. Even voting in a non-conservative non-nationalist government doesn’t shift the racism at all. It’s a default condition

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2d ago

You can never outbid the Tories and Reform on this stuff, so even the slightest concession to basic human decency is going to get you vilified. It's a complete hiding for nothing

💥 Starting off November with a bang (or 2500 of them): 2500 occupiers were eliminated in the last 24 hours. That's a new record. Records are made to be broken. So are occupiers.

spoke to Blunt years ago when i was writing about the Pristina airport incident. Was genuinely struck by the level of moral clarity he had. Dude was very clearly prepared to face a court martial, rather than follow what he felt was an illegal and immoral attack order from an (American) general.

Felicity Hannah@felicityhannah.bsky.social · 6d ago

There are plenty of national treasures that everyone seems to love but I don’t especially enjoy, like James Corden. But I cannot understand at all the antipathy to James Blunt. Even if you don’t like the music he’s so funny and charming. I genuinely don’t understand how so many people dislike him!

General reminder that I have a history podcast. I try to use it to explore interesting, overlooked bits of history. And to do so in a way that's accessible but doesn't fall back to doing the same old topics just to trigger Youtube algorithms etc e.g. Nazi escape routes were complex and fascinating

Episode 6: Rat Lines, the Vatican and Nazi escape lines

The Untitled History Podcast · Episode

open.spotify.com

And still the greater scandal goes unreported. Why isn’t the press talking about the Covid inquiry evidence which showed they knew it was airborne from day 1 and they still today have incorrect guidance in place. This VIP lane is important but a distraction. 🧵

Peter Geoghegan@petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 5d ago

🔴 EXCLUSIVE: After a *five-year* legal battle, Democracy for Sale has forced the government to reveal who referred firms to lucrative Covid PPE ‘VIP lane’ for 'politically connected' 30+ senior Tories are named, plus ex Duchess of York, and many more 🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-m...

Air defense missiles that Ukraine urgently needs right now are set to arrive only in a few years! This is heartbreaking, it means Ukrainians will continue dying defenseless under russian bombings. ​And it is being done out of spite, and to pressure us to surrender. Disgusting.

A great sight

Who's done it for the last almost five years and ongoing?

DavidB@david.eurosky.social · 6d ago

You mean the UK has done it way more than Russia? (no, I'm not hinting that the UK intends to invade anyone this time, I'm just being snarky... which doesn't mean I'm not correct)