"Lemkovyna: A History of the Lemko Region of the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe" is both a celebration of the mountain area the author calls a "foretaste of paradise," and a lament over its suffering, especially the ethnic cleansing of its inhabitants after WW II. Along the way, Polianskii traces the social, political, and religious history of Lemkos and neighboring Carpatho-Rusyns, chronicling early Slavic tribes and the introduction of Christianity, how villagers earned their living and worked against long odds to improve their circumstances, including emigration to America, and how...