Synopsis: Native Belarusan Jan Zaprudnik paints a vivid picture of Belarus's complex past,
paving the way for his analysis of the challenges now facing the republic in the wake of a
disintegrating Soviet Union. In recent years Belarus (formerly known as Belorussia) has been
less visible to the world than the Baltic republics to the north or Ukraine to the south, yet
this multiethnic republic has undergone a significant demographic social, cultural, and political
evolution since 1956. A proclamation of state sovereignty in July 1990 combined with the
accelerated fragmentation of the Soviet Union to push Belarus along the uncertain road to
independence--a process that culminated with a declaration of full independence in August 1991.

Belarusans in the United States traces the history and describes the lives and activities of the over half-million Belarusans who have entered the United States over the last century. Vitaut Kipel presents extensive statistics and documentation on these immigrants so that they can be understood within the socio-political contexts that prevailed in Belarus and the United States. He clarifies the complex terms necessary to understand the Belarusan settlers because of the constantly changing names and rulers of this land now known as the Republic of Belarus. Kipel demonstrates the growing sense of nationalism felt by the Belarusans as the end of the Soviet Union neared and the eventual independence of Belarus became imminent. He notes the effects of the events in Belarus on those who moved to the United States, while chronicling the actions of the people as a group in a new country.

Vitaut Kipel is Chairman of the Belarusan Institute of Arts and Sciences.