God Save Me from My Friends: A Ukrainian Memoir

I found this book fascinating and easy to read.

Like the author, my father arrived in the UK as a displaced person from the Ukraine after the Second World War and I would imagine there are many similarities in the difficult circumstances that they both found themselves in. Unlike the author, however, I wasn't lucky enough to have got my father's story down on paper. I think he's very lucky to have been able to do so and it has really opened my eyes.

My knowledge of the history of this time isn't as good as I'd like, but I do know that the history and politics were somewhat complicated and obscure, especially since the Ukraine became absorbed within the Soviet Union after WWII, so it's helpful to have a book that brings this period alive within an historical framework.

A gripping and compulsive read. (6/7 people found this helpful)

I found this story fascinating. I began reading this book with the expectation of reading a book that was heavy with references to the war and the events of the time. What I wasn't expecting was the truly honest human viewpoint of such troubled times.

Reading this story really brings home the human aspect of trouble and conflict both past and present and I feel I have had my eyes opened to the predicament of people who are political pawns used to other's own end and not respected as a people in their own right.

The story tells of a young man - Anton who from an early age is required to cope with events that no one should ever need to deal with. At all times I was compelled to read on and to find out the next turn in Anton's life and was always amazed that he never gave up hope or seemed to despair.

I hope that this review encourages others to read this story which like many great stories tells a new side to an event that everybody knows so well, and after reading this story I think you will feel differently about the situation to how you did before.

One Mans Story (8/9 people found this helpful)

Knowing very little about the tangled political situation of Eastern Europe in the Second World War I wondered if I would be able to follow the story of Anton, a young man from Western Ukraine, and his journey through the war, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The story is simply told, with great affection, by the writer. From recollections of boyhood, to vivid descriptions of "the front" and later of the hard life in a detention camp, we follow Anton, and his various companions, admiring his spirit for survival.

The authors footnotes explain the changes in power, and the "no win" situation of Anton and his family and countrymen, they also place the stories and memories accurately into historical events.

I enjoyed the book very much, as a story of one mans war, and thanks to the authors clear explanations, I feel I now know a little more about the complicated history of the time.

God Save Me from My Friends: A Ukrainian Memoir

Michael Hrycyszyn

Reader Reviews:

A Ukrainian memoir (3/4 people found this helpful)

A gripping and compulsive read. (6/7 people found this helpful)

One Mans Story (8/9 people found this helpful)

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