A Short History of Lithuania to 1569: Centennial Edition (1921–2021)

A HISTORY OF LITHUANIA—published in Kaunas in 1921—broke new ground, as the first 20th-century Russian-language history of Lithuania presented as a highly accessible text for a general, non-academic Russian-speaking readership, which represented a substantial portion of the country’s population at the time. The work is divided into three eras: (1) Legendary (until the early 13th century), (2) the Golden Age (1204–1386) and (3) Preparation for a Real Union (1386–1569). Presenting the material in a way that is reader-friendly, with short chapters (containing summary headings at the top), lively writing with explanatory notes at the bottom of the pages and accompanying visuals in the form of charts and maps that he drew himself, as well as four appendices (including one on the Jews in Lithuania), the author’s approach is surprisingly modern, anticipating the “Made Simple”—and, more recently, the so-called “Dummies” and “Idiots”—series that followed decades later, designed to render what might otherwise be difficult and abstruse subject matter easily accessible to a general audience. The book also has value as a historical artifact: i.e., the context in which it was produced—and the response it elicited (expulsion of the author and his family from the country by the dictator who came to power in a 1926 coup)—imbues it with added meaning and significance. In a sense, the book represents a case study in the power of the written word and the repercussions that its exercise can generate. A century later, at a time of heightened assault on both truth and freedom of speech worldwide—with authoritarianism steadily on the rise—these themes remain as timely as ever. This centennial edition, translated into smooth and idiomatic English, includes an introduction written by the author’s grandson (a Harvard graduate and PhD in political science), in which he describes the detective work through which he solved various mysteries relating to the book. He also describes the interesting parallels that were impressed on him—including the striking similarities between the dictator Augustinas Voldemaras and the present-day American authoritarian politician Donald J. Trump.