“The Curse of Empire” by Martin Schulze Wessel has been published in English

Russians have debated over and over again whether their country could afford to be an empire. Rulers liked the idea and chose this direction, often at a high prize for their own people, as well as for Russia’s neighbours. This book by Munich professor Martin Schulze Wessel, co-director of the German-Ukrainian Mykola Haievoi Center for Modern History, looks at the imperial development from both sides. By placing the war against 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.

“The Curse of Empire: Ukraine, Poland, and the Fatal Paths in Russian History”, first published in 2025 by C.H. Beck , is now available in English. It was translated by Neil Solomon and published by politybooks. Polity is a leading English-language publisher, offering books of German authors covering past and present of Central and Eastern Europe.