Kyiv, Ukraine: The City of Domes and Demons is a pioneering case study of urban change from socialism to the hard edge of a market economy after the fall of the Soviet Union. It looks in detail at the historic capital of Ukraine – Europe’s seventh-largest city – with emphasis on the changing social geography of the city, on urban development, and on critical problems such as official corruption, social inequality, sex tourism, and destruction of historical ambience. The book is based on fieldwork and an insider’s knowledge of the city, is written in an engaging style, and is nicely illustrated with numerous photographs by the author. A beautiful city that has been known for its great river, the Dnipro, and for so many spectacular churches capped with golden domes that it was once called a New Jerusalem, is today being devoured by demons of capitalist greed and corruption.

The author, Roman Adrian Cybriwsky is Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, and former Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. He divides his time between Philadelphia, Kyiv, and Tokyo, about which he has also written books.