Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship [Hardcover]

The title of Andrew Wilson's book may not distinguish it from competition - diversity weeps and scuttles away as "Belarus: the last European dictatorship" joins "The last dictatorship in Europe: Belarus under Lukashenko", "The last Soviet republic: Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus" and "Belarus: Europe's last authoritarian state" - but its approach does. While the others focus on the Lukashenka years, Wilson devotes the first half of the book to Belarus's history. This should appeal to Belarusian readers who have seen Lukashenka's reign up close but are not satisfied with their knowledge of their country's more distant past, and will appreciate a perspective from a respected Western scholar. Belarusians and non-Belarusians alike will enjoy a dynamic and entertaining narrative. Without a doubt, this is the first book to see if you wish to know more about Belarus.

After this endorsement, the necessary criticism. I would put it this way: this is a book by a Ukraine scholar "branching out" into new territory, and one written in a bit of a hurry. A "Belarus scholar" might be expected to have travelled the country - however, Wilson's references to Brutalist buildings dominating Minsk streets make me wonder just how much time he spent there. (Incidentally, Minsk originated as "Mensk"; the book does not mention this, and puts "Minsk" on a medieval map). One might also be expected to know the language - but mistransliterations of Belarusian names suggest otherwise. (Belarusian readers will note that this does not prevent Wilson from endorsing a highly peculiar view of "trasianka" and bashing Pazniak for "fanatical" advocacy of Belarusian language). Indeed, page 83 casts doubt on the author's command of any Slavic language, by translating "dudka" as "fiddle" - all over the place, the word means "flute". Interestingly, a web page about Frantsishak Bahushevich (see the first Google hit for "bahushevich fiddle") features the exact same error. Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V?

More broadly, a "synthetic" story is only as reliable as its sources, and follows their choice of topics and emphases. (The book's first half owes much to a book by Valer Bulhakaw and Vital Silitski, while the second half is guided by Aliaksandr Fiaduta's Lukashenka biography. The first two express what in my opinion is a tendentious, one-sided view of 19th century Belarus - Bulhakaw's take on Kastus' Kalinowski is a lowlight - while Fiaduta has a descriptive, "he said this, they did that" style that's good for the page count and entertainment, but is not especially illuminating). On the other hand, the sources cannot be blamed when important, much-written-about subjects - off the top of my head: the union with Poland, the Partitions, the 1863 rebellion, economic development of the late 19th century, the turn-of-20th-century cultural "Renaissance", history of Belarusian Jewry, Belarusian Vilnya, Belarusian emigration - get a superficial, and possibly misleading, treatment or are skipped over. A peer reviewer would have pointed out the suspect passages, but multiple minor factual and spelling errors suggest that the author dispensed with an even more basic check.

(One more peeve to mention. Page 116 introduces "Minsk City Industrial Group", a bureaucratic clan that came to dominate Soviet Belorussia in Brezhnev years, one "with strong links to Moscow and powerful enough to be given its own acronym, the 'MCIG'". I was a little embarrassed to have never heard of the mighty MCIG - until discovering that it was constructed and named in the monograph that is Wilson's main reference on 1960-1980s. Powerful enough to be given its own acronym? Huh?)

At present, the book is 75% of what I would like it to be. I look forward to second edition.

PS. Amazon editors have their own opinions regarding geography: "Books > History > *Asia* > Belarus".