 Subtelny's major work is the general textbook "" (1988), a work of Ukrainian historiography.During the Mikhail Gorbachev reforms, the book was quickly translated into both Ukrainian and Russian and affected the growth of Ukrainian historical and national consciousness during the initial years of Ukrainian independence.Under the influence of his mentors, the orientalist Omeljan Pritsak and the Ivan Mazepa specialist Oleksander Ohloblyn, Subtelny's earlier work dealt with the Cossack era, especially the revolt of Hetman Ivan Mazepa against Tsar Peter the Great.