As promised, here is the bibliography from my podcast on the Union of Brest. Because I thought they might be useful to anyone wanting to learn more about Ukraine, I also list some other works related to Ukrainian history since the Union as well. (Note: those works marked with an asterisk are ones I actually consulted for my podcast.)
The Union of Brest: A Bibliography
General Histories of Ukraine
Serhii Plokhy, The Gates of Europe: a History of Ukraine (2015)*
[A recent and very helpful overview of Ukraine’s history]
Anna Reid, Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine (2001)*
[A good introduction to Ukraine, though a little older]
On the History of the Union
Sophia Senyk, A History of the Church in Ukraine, Vol. II: 1300 to the Union of Brest*
[Second of a multi-volume history of the Church in Ukraine. Senyk’s account of the Union is the most properly critical of the sources, though she is too harsh, imo, about the Union itself]
Oskar Halecki, From Florence to Brest (1439-1569) (available at the Internet Archive)*
[an older account of the Union which traces the influence of the earlier attempt at union. More positive toward Brest, but less critical of the sources and Rome in general]
Borys Gudziak, Crisis and Reform: The Kyivan Metropolitanate, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Genesis of the Union of Brest
[Gudziak is the former president of the UCC University in Lviv and now archbishop of the Ukrainian eparchy in Philadelphia. His account provides several key sources in translation in an appendix.]
Alexander Baran, “How Did the Union of Florence Influence the Union of Brest?” Logos: a Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, Vol. 41-42 (2000-2001), pp. 391-398*
[Short overview of the relation between the two attempts at union]
Teresa Chynczewska-Hennel, “The Political, Social and National Thought of the Ukrainian Higher Clergy, 1569-1700,” Harvard Ukrainian Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1/4, Ukrainian Church History (2002-2003), pp. 97-152*
[A good scholarly article on the clergy in Ukraine before and after Brest.]
“Union of Brest,” New Catholic Encyclopedia*
“Ukrainian Catholic Church,” New Catholic Encyclopedia*
[As with most of the academic articles, you will need access to an academic library to use the NCE. But it has good short articles that can serve as an introduction to the subject. You can also look at the old, 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent for free]
Primary Documents on the Web
Text of the Union of Brest, Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg*
[The text written by the Ukrainian bishops requesting union with Rome]
Text of Magnus Dominus, at Hathitrust.org (p. 87, image 109)*
[The bull of pope Clement VIII proclaiming the Union, for those of you who want to try your Latin. The text, as far as I know, has never been translated into English. The substance of the document is given by Halecki, in the work listed above.]
Ukrainian History Since Brest
Church, Nation and State in Russia and Ukraine, ed. Geoffrey A. Hosking (1991)
[A collection of essays on religion and nationhood in both countries, around the time the USSR broke up]
Timothy Snyder, The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, 1569-1999 (2004)
[Synder is a Harvard historian, specializing in totalitarianism, among other things. This is useful as background on the fears of Russia’s neighbors]
Nicholas Denysenko, The Orthodox Church in Ukraine: A Century of Separation (2018)
[examines the history of Ukrainian Orthodoxy since the schism that took place in 1921, though in 2019 another schism occurred as well]
Christian Mamo, “Explainer: The Split in Ukraine’s Orthodox Church,” Emerging Europe (available online)
[A brief explanation of the schism that occurred within the Orthodox Church in Ukraine in 2019]