This book explores one of the most vivid and at the same time most dramatic chapters in Ukrainian history — the emergence and development of the early modern Ukrainian state (the Hetmanate) and the more than century-long struggle to preserve it. It focuses on efforts to defend the Hetmanate from the attempts of the Muscovite Tsardom, and later the Russian Empire, to limit its autonomy, suppress its distinct political institutions, and ultimately abolish it altogether. By examining the foundational aspects of Ukrainian statehood — including governance and self-rule, the economy and social structures, models of territorial organization and administration — the book evaluates the effectiveness of this system of state self-organization, which emerged from the Cossack revolution in the mid-17th century. It also offers a reasoned analysis of how organically this Ukrainian state fit into the broader framework of early modern estate-based states in Europe.

The book is intended for scholars, educators, students, and all those interested in Ukrainian history and the history of Ukrainian statehood in the early modern era.

320 pages. Hardcover.