The Curse of Empire
Ukraine, Poland, and the Fatal Paths in Russian History
Martin Schulze Wessel author Neil Solomon translator
Format:Hardback
Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Published:28th Nov '25
Should be back in stock very soon
Russia's attack on Ukraine marks an epochal break in European and global history. Undoubtedly, the decision to go to war is closely linked to one person, Vladimir Putin, but Russia's war is not driven solely by one man's power calculations. We can only make sense of Russia's actions in Ukraine, argues the distinguished historian Martin Schulze Wessel, by putting them in the broader context of the history of Russian imperialism and the influence it continues to exert today.
Schulze Wessel argues that Russian imperialism was shaped by Russia's relationship to Poland and Ukraine. These states were absorbed or partitioned by Russia in the eighteenth century, but Russia's rule over them was contested both by the Poles and by the Ukrainians. The entangled history of these three states produced path dependencies whose impact is still felt toda. Poland and Ukraine share a common history characterized by Russian domination and Polish and Ukrainian resistance to it; just as the Polish question challenged the Russian Empire in previous centuries, so too does the Ukrainian question today. Schulze Wessel argues that, as a result of Russia's confrontation with the Polish and Ukrainian questions, Russia's national identity merged with imperial claims in ways that were pernicious and consequential – the curse of empire.
By placing the war in Ukraine in the context of an era of Russian imperialism that spans three centuries, this book sheds new light on one of the bloodiest and most destructive conflicts of our time.
"Overall, Schulze Wessel's study offers an approach to historiography that is urgently needed in today's historical moment – nuanced and transnationally oriented. Given its scope, nuance, and timeliness, this book is equally significant as a scholarly and civic contribution."
Irina Kogan, Ab imperio
"Martin Schulze Wessel is an outstanding historian of Eastern Europe and of Russia. He quite rightly places Poland together with Ukraine in a powerfully interpretive history of Russian imperialism. We cannot do without the concept of imperialism in our analysis of the present war, and this book is a sure guide to its meaning and its significance. Journalists, policymakers, and everyone concerned with the present Russian war on Ukraine would do well to read it."
Timothy Snyder, Yale University
"The Curse of Empire is a tour de force of international history. Martin Schulze Wessel explains the deep roots of Russian expansionism and places Moscow's aggression against Ukraine in a perspective often missed by both academics and the general public. Erudite, clear, and objective."
Serhii Plokhy, author of The Russo-Ukrainian War
"Russia's attack on Ukraine might seem like the irrational whim of a megalomaniacal leader – until you read this book. Nothing necessitated the aggression, but it finds acceptance among ordinary Russians because they share expectations of imperial power created over many centuries. If the author's message is sober, his language is rich, compelling, and direct; no other book makes as urgent a case for the importance of history."
John Connelly, UC Berkeley
"Martin Schulze Wessel helps us to understand the current Russian war of aggression in Ukraine in relation to the deeper history of Russia's ambitions in Eastern Europe. He is a brilliant historian whose work gives us new insight into contemporary international affairs."
Larry Wolff, author of Inventing Eastern Europe
ISBN: 9781509563999
Dimensions: 237mm x 164mm x 35mm
Weight: 652g
352 pages