{"product_id":"with-their-backs-to-the-mountains-a-history-of-carpathian-rus-and-carpatho-rusyns-9786155053467","title":"With Their Backs to the Mountains: A History of","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a history of a stateless people, the Carpatho-Rusyns, and their historic homeland, Carpathian Rus', located in the heart of central Europe. A little over 100,000 Carpatho-Rusyns are registered in official censuses but their population is estimated at around 1,000,000, the greater part in Ukraine and Slovakia. The majority of the diaspora-nearly 600,000-lives in the US.  At the present, when it is fashionable to speak of nationalities as \"imagined communities\" created by intellectuals or elites who may live in the historic homeland, Carpatho-Rusyns provide an ideal example of a people made-or some would say still being made-before our very eyes. The book traces the evolution of Carpathian Rus' from earliest  prehistoric times to the present, and the complex manner in which a distinct Carpatho-Rusyn people, since the mid-nineteenth century, came into being, disappeared, and then re-appeared in the wake of the revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of communist rule in central and eastern Europe.  To help guide the reader further there are 34 detailed maps plus an annotated discussion of relevant books, chapters, and journal articles.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Paul Robert Magocsi, a well-known author on Ukrainian History and a self-identified Rusyn, authored With Their Backs to the Mountains not only to fill a lacuna in knowledge among specialists and genealogical researchers, but also to advocate for the distinctiveness (and, indeed, existence) of an ethno-national group still struggling for recognition at home and abroad. The comprehensive book includes a wealth of illustrations, maps, and text capsules, which address thematic issues outside the immediate chronological narrative, and Magocsi’s text is certain to become the definitive reference guide to the Carpatho-Rusyns.\"\u003c\/p\u003e -- Curtis Murphy * Slavic and East European Journal *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Magocsi's book is an invaluable source of detailed information for those who are interested in a history of the Rusyns and their diaspora, for those who teach the history of East Central Europe it is also a useful textbook with helpful inserts that explain certain terms, events, and historiographical problems, and includes documents or illustrative explanations of other authors, finishing with a great bibliographic essay in the section 'for further reading'.\"\u003c\/p\u003e -- Sergei I. Zhuk * Russian Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The real value of\u003cem\u003e With Their Backs to the Mountains\u003c\/em\u003e is that it is a history of Carpatho-Rusyns that is not written from any state perspective, whether that of Budapest, Moscow, Kyiv, Prague, Warsaw, or Bratislava. It is not inappropriate to say that Magocsi’s history is written from the perspective of Carpatho-Rusyns, while at the time emphasizing that the book systematically analyzes historical events in an objective manner, a not unimportant characteristic of his research. Although a scholarly publication, the book has relevance in the context of present-day changes in Europe. The relevance factor applies to those states to whom the doors became open for membership in the European Union. Although not the sole reason (but nevertheless a reason) was the fact that all of those states recognized their Carpatho-Rusyn citizens to comprise a distinct ethnos. The book’s relevance factor also applies to other countries, first and foremost Ukraine, which is seeking a path to the European Union and which inevitably will be required to recognize that the 1945 annexation of historic Subcarpathian Rus’ and the abolition of the Carpatho-Rusyn nationality throughout central Europe were simply part of the expansionist ideology of the Soviet Union. Magocsi’s monograph, which outlines the above historical scenario, may therefore become a kind of road map for Ukraine’s future political elite.\"\u003c\/p\u003e -- Valerii Padiak * Nationalities Papers *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Paul Robert Magocsi, Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto, has been writing about Carpatho-Rusyns for almost half a century now and this book represents a condensation, if not culmination, of his scholarship on the subject. For historians of the so-called stateless nations, Magocsi’s main narrative will strike a familiar chord. He tells a story of people who have existed from the ancient times under foreign powers (Hungarian for the most part) but have been inhibited from developing fully due to the lack of self-rule and governmental policies against them. With Their Backs to the Mountains will certainly prove to be a valuable book for those interested in the Carpatho-Rusyn perspective on the history of these lands by the Carpathians and the question of ethnic\/national identity of their indigenous Eastern Slavs.\"\u003c\/p\u003e -- Ernest Gyidel * Austrian History Yearbook *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This book is undoubtedly the work of a renowned scholar with impressive knowledge concerning the history and culture of the region. At the same time, this is also the work of an ardent advocate of a national cause (of the people inhabiting this region or having ancestral links to it). It is clear from the text that the author is well aware of the possibility of being accused of partisanship as potentially compromising the academic impartiality of his narrative. Still, Magocsi attempts to balance a critical scholarly approach (as embodied by constructivist methodology) with the primordialism of a national activist.\"\u003c\/p\u003e -- Agnieszka Halemba * Ab Imperio *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Die Monographie folgt einem klassischen chronologischen Aufbau und setzt nach einer Beschreibung des geographischen Raumes mit der Darstellung der vorgeschichtlichen Zeit und der ersten menschlichen Ansiedlungen in der Karpato-Rus’ ein. Indem dieser Aufbau an die klassische Geschichtsschreibung moderner Nationalstaaten erinnert, meldet er einen Anspruch an. Wie bei den Handbüchern von Magocsi üblich, wird der Text illustriert durch sorgfältig gestaltete, informative (und suggestive) Karten sowie Kästen, die Kontexte zur Geschichte der Karpato-Rus’ erörtern. Als einführende Gesamtdarstellung konzipiert, die Monographie umfasst über 40 Seiten eines chronologisch strukturierten, kommentierten bibliographischen Anhangs sowie ein gut verwendbares Register.\"\u003c\/p\u003e -- Christophe von Werdt * Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Maps List of Tables Introduction Chapter 1. Carpatho-Rusyns and the land of Carpathian Rus' \tHuman geography \tNo shortage of names  Physical geography A borderland of borders   2. Carpathian Rus' in prehistoric times \t Earliest human settlements \tThe Iron Age and the Celts Early peoples in Carpathian Rus'  The Roman Empire and the Dacians  3. The Slavs and their arrival in the Carpathians \tThe Huns and the displacement of peoples \tThe origin-of-peoples fetish  Is DNA the reliable way?  The Slavs and Carpathian Rus'  Dwellings of the early Slavs  The White Croats and the Avars 4. State formation in central Europe The Pax Romana and the Byzantine Empire Greater Moravia Saints Constantine\/Cyril and Methodius Christianity becomes \"our\" religion  Who among the East Slavs first received Christianity?  The Magyars and Hungary Historical memory and political reality  The rise of Poland Kievan Rus' The Great Debate: the origin of Rus'  5. Carpathian Rus' until the early 16th century \tFormation of the Hungarian Kingdom A medieval Carpatho-Rusyn state: fact or fiction? The Mongol invasion and the restructuring of Hungary The Vlach colonization Kings, nobles, and the implementation of serfdom Poland: administrative and socioeconomic structure The fall of Constantinople and the decline of Orthodoxy  6. The Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, and Carpathian Rus' \tThe Ottoman Empire in central Europe The Protestant Reformation The Catholic Counter-Reformation Poland and church union  \tUniates\/Greek Catholics: A new church or a return to the old?  \tTransylvania and church union in Hungary 7. The Habsburg restoration in Carpathian Rus' Rakoczi's \"War of Liberation\"  Habsburg Austria's transformation of Carpathian Rus'  The Bachka-Srem Vojvodinian Rusyns Poland and Galicia's Lemko Region  8. Habsburg reforms and their impact on Carpatho-Rusyns  \tThe reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph II \tUniate\/Greek Catholics and the Enlightenment in Carpathian Rus'  Carpatho-Rusyns become an historical people  9. The Revolution of 1848 and the Carpatho-Rusyn national awakening \tThe multicultural Austrian Empire Kakania's emperors and kings  What is nationalism and what are national movements?  Nationalism in Hungary From inferiority to superiority: the transformation of a dangerous complex  Revolution in the Austrian lands and Hungary The Carpatho-Rusyn national awakening: politics The first Carpatho-Rusyn political program  The Carpatho-Rusyn national awakening: culture Did Carpatho-Rusyns really love the Russians?  10. Carpathian Rus' in Austria-Hungary, 1868-1914 \tThe Dual Monarchy and Austrian parliamentarism \tIn search of a Rus' national identity The national awakening in the Lemko Region Hungary and its magyarization policies Magyarization despite the letter of the law Carpatho-Rusyns in Hungarian politics  Carpatho-Rusyns and national survival  Socioeconomic developments  Was life in pre-World War I Carpathian Rus' so destitute?  11. Carpatho-Rusyn diasporas before World War I \tMigration to the Srem, Banat, and Bachka \tEmigration abroad to the United States \tRusyn-American religious and secular organizations \tRejected Greek Catholics and the \"return\" to Orthodoxy \t\"You are not a proper priest\"  \t\"Ruthenians\" become Uhro (Hungarian)-Rusyns, or Russians, or Ukrainians  Rusyn Americans and international politics  12. Carpathian Rus' during World War I, 1914-1918 \tThe end of civilized Europe \tWorld War I in Carpathian Rus' The war against Carpatho-Rusyn civilians \tMagyarization reaches its peak 13. The end of the old and the birth of a new order, 1918-1919 National self-determination and socialist revolution Rusyn Americans mobilize politically Political mobilization in the Carpatho-Rusyn homeland Hungary's autonomous Rus' Land The Ukrainian option  The meaning of Ukraine  Carpatho-Rusyns on the international stage 14. Subcarpathian Rus' in interwar Czechoslovakia, 1919-1938 \tCzechoslovakia and \"Rusyns south of the Carpathians\" Borders and the autonomy question Carpatho-Rusyn national anthems  Hungarian irredentism Political life Socioeconomic developments \tSubcarpathian Rus': Czechoslovakia's architectural tabula rasa  \tEducation and culture \tChurches and the religious question \tOrthodoxy: the jurisdictional problem  \tThe nationality and language questions \tThe language question  15. The Presov Region in interwar Slovakia, 1919-1938 \tBorders, schools, and censuses  The problem of statistics  Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovaks  Socioeconomic developments Education The religious question The nationality question and cultural developments 16. The Lemko Region in interwar Poland, 1919-1939 \tPoland, its Ukrainian problem, and the Lemko Region \tSocioeconomic status of the Lemko Rusyns \tReligious and civic activity  The Lemko-Rusyn national awakening 17. Carpatho-Rusyn diasporas during the interwar years, 1919-1938 Romania and Hungary Yugoslavia-the Vojvodina  The United States  \tMarriage and property: two sticking points  18. Other peoples in Subcarpathian Rus' Magyars Jews Relations between Jews and Carpatho-Rusyns  Germans Romanians, Slovaks, and Roma\/Gypsies Russians, Ukrainians, and Czechs  19. Autonomous Subcarpathian Rus' and Carpatho-Ukraine, 1938-1939 The struggle for autonomy during the interwar years  Nazi Germany and the Munich Pact Autonomous Subcarpathian Rus'  From Subcarpathian Rus' to Carpatho-Ukraine Alternatives to the Ukrainian national orientation Carpatho-Ukraine's road to \"independence\" 20. Carpathian Rus' during World War II, 1939-1944 \tNazi Germany's New Order in Europe The Lemko Region in Nazi Germany Carpatho-Rusyns in the Slovak state Subcarpathian Rus' in Hungary The apogee of the Rusyn national orientation  Opposition to Hungarian rule  21. Carpathian Rus' in transition, 1944-1945 The Soviet Army and Ukrainian nationalist partisans Rusyn\/Lemko Americans and the war in Europe The Soviet \"liberation\" of Subcarpathian Rus' Transcarpathian Ukraine and \"reunification\" The act of reunification  Czechoslovakia acquiesces to Soviet hegemony Why did Czechoslovakia give up Subcarpathian Rus'?  The new Poland and the deportation of the Lemkos: Phase one 22. Subcarpathian Rus'\/Transcarpathia in the Soviet Union, 1945-1991 Subcarpathian Rus' becomes Soviet Transcarpathia The Soviet socio-political model Totalitarian time  Forced collectivization and industrialization Transcarpathia's new peoples Revising the past and reckoning with \"enemies of the people\" How Carpatho-Rusyns were declared Ukrainians  Destruction of the Greek Catholic Church Transcarpathia's new Soviet society Love of the East  23. The Presov Region in postwar and Communist Czechoslovakia, 1945-1989 \tPostwar politics: the Ukrainian National Council \tPopulation transfers and the UPA  Communist Czechoslovakia according to the Soviet model Carpatho-Rusyns are ukrainianized The Prague Spring and the rebirth of Carpatho-Rusyns Soviet-style political consolidation and reukrainianization Socioeconomic achievements and national assimilation  24. The Lemko Region and Lemko Rusyns in Communist Poland, 1945-1989 \tPoland reconstituted and restructured  The deportation of the Lemkos: Phase two  Greek Catholic and Orthodox Lemkos  Lemkos as Ukrainians Lemko fear and anxiety  25. Carpatho-Rusyn diasporas old and new, 1945-1989 \tSoviet Ukraine (Galicia and Volhynia) \tCzechoslovakia (Bohemia and Moravia) Romania (the Banat and Maramures Regions) Yugoslavia (Vojvodina and Srem) The United States We want to know who we are  26. The Revolutions of 1989 Transformation and demise of the Soviet Union The end of Communist rule in central Europe Carpatho-Rusyns reassert their existence One people despite international borders Proclamation of the World Congress of Rusyns  The autonomy question again 27. Post-Communist Transcarpathia-Ukraine Unfulfilled political expectations Ukraine's \"Rusyn question\" Carpatho-Rusyns in the international context Socioeconomic realities A failed or incomplete national movement? Traditional religious and secular culture  Protestantism and Carpatho-Rusyns  28. The post-Communist Presov Region and the Lemko Region-Slovakia and Poland \tCzechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution  Censuses confirm nationalities Independent Slovakia and the European Union  Presov Region Carpatho-Rusyns confirm their existence  Codification of a Rusyn literary language  The Greek Catholic Church: a positive or negative force? Nationality assertion and assimilation Poland's three Lemko-Rusyn communities Lemko Rusyns or Lemko Ukrainians? The Vatra: a symbol of national and political advocacy  The attraction of Polish assimilation 29. Other Carpatho-Rusyn communities in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989 \tUkraine Czech Republic \tHungary \tRomania Yugoslavia-Serbia and Croatia \tThe United States \tCanada 30. Carpathian Rus'-real or imagined? \tCarpathian Rus': a reality or an idea?  Carpathian Rus' beyond Carpathian Rus' Enemies as friends A movement of women and young people Education and national self-confidence Notes For further reading \t1. Reference works and general studies 2. Prehistoric times to the 16th century 3. The 17th and early 18th centuries 4. The reform era and Habsburg rule, 1770s to 1847 5. The Revolution of 1848 to the end of World War I 6. The interwar years, 1919-1938 7. International crises and World War II, 1938-1945 8. The Communist era, 1945-1989 9. The Revolutions of 1989 and their aftermath  Index","brand":"Central European University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51045533942103,"sku":"9786155053467","price":161.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9786155053467.jpg?v=1750964952","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/with-their-backs-to-the-mountains-a-history-of-carpathian-rus-and-carpatho-rusyns-9786155053467","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}