112 REVIEWS AND SHORT NOTICES cultures aiming at assuring peace on the continent and not as a history of this ‘obsession with diversity’. The section on the second half of the nineteenth century is a striking example of this conceptual weakness – concerning this period, Pastures construes ‘empire’, ‘market’ and ‘nation’ as historical structures, not as aspects of this suggested ‘obsession’ (pp. 62–88). Pasture starts out with the ‘European Quest for Peace’ (pp. 1–10) as an introductory chapter. Subsequently, he examines the role of Christendom in the European discourse since medieval times. Arguably, Pasture does not give these early periods the space and attention they deserve. He does provide some remarks on how Christendom became a driving force in European medieval culture (pp. 13–19), but beyond this ofers little information on images of Europe in the Middle Ages (again, pp. 13–19). In the following sections, the author deals with the history of the early modern period (pp. 19–31), the Enlightenment (pp. 32–48) and ‘Peace during the Concert’, where he elaborates his view on the period of the ‘Holy Alliance’ and restoration after 1815 (pp. 49–62). However, the argument that the European system of governance after Napoleon’s ultimate defeat should be interpreted as a ‘peace-keeping organization’ neglects its oppressive character. Pasture subsequently discusses liberal movements and tendencies after the 1848 revolutions (pp. 62–88). The subsequent chapters on the First World War and the post-war peace treaties (pp. 89–118) and on the interwar period and the Second World War (pp. 119–56) are amongst the most meritorious sections of the book. Historians have rarely ofered such a well-balanced and well- informed history of (Anti-)Europeanism, especially in hyper-nationalist and racist political discourses, such as fascism and Nazism. The book’s final sections provide an overview of Europeanism in the Cold War period (pp. 157–84) and an epilogue (pp. 185–96), which can be seen as mapping the road for future research in European integration history. Pasture here suggests linking the history of the European Union to the history of colonialism and decolonization. The conclusion, entitled ‘In Search of European Unity’, summarizes the author’s argument, which has its strongest points when stressing the complex history of Europeanism in the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s, and the close links between the ‘European project’ and colonialism. Graz PETER PICHLER The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine. By Serhii Plokhy. Basic Books. 2015. xxiv + 395pp. £25.00. The public reaction to the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict has shown how little is known in the west about the roots of the conflict and about Ukraine in general. This unfamiliarity makes it most urgent to provide the audience with a new, revisionist, short yet comprehensive, engaging and up-to-date history of Ukraine. Serhii Plokhy’s new survey of Ukraine’s history by right fulfils all these requirements. The title of the volume, The Gates of Europe, is a metaphor which highlights not only the significance of Europe in Ukrainian history and identity, but also how important Ukraine has been in European history throughout the centuries. Plokhy’s recent study of Ukraine’s history positively difers from those available on the market. His investigation avoids the traps of a state-centred C  2017 The Author. History C  2017 The Historical Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd