Concerns about the situation in southeast europe at the time, in the aftermath of the wars in the former yugoslavia, guaranteed that its impact reached beyond the specialist public. This balkans book is truly a short history as it is labeled, only 156 pages, but it packs a lot of information into its pages. It takes its name from the balkan mountains that extend between the border of serbia and bulgaria all the way to the black sea. Nationalism, war and the great powers 1804 1999 by misha glenny, the fall of yugoslavia by misha glenny. Mark mazower presents a concise history of the balkans that takes to task popular late twentiethcentury theories that promote nonintervention in balkan disputes, and also includes a chronology, several maps, and. Regional accent the vexed history of travel writing about the balkans if modern travel writing was born somewhere, that place may be southeastern europe. In kapka kassabovas book, the destination is a lake or rather two connected lakes, ohrid and prespa, on the balkan peninsula. This unique and lively history of balkan geopolitics since the early nineteenth.
The balkan wars of the 1990sdwhich mazower persuasively calls a civil wardreinforced the meaning of the word balkan. Nationalism, war and the great powers by misha glenny. Balkan history writing the past books and arts the economist. In this highly acclaimed short history, mark mazower sheds light on what has been called the tinderbox of europe. Im particularly interested in the croatian war of independence, and would like to know more about that along with the tensions that led up to it. Thanks very much kotromanic, im interested in everything concerning the balkans right from late antiquity. A landmark reassessment, the balkans rescues the regions history from the various ideological camps that have held it hostage for their own ends, not least the need to justify nonintervention.
The book was written before the collapse of ottoman turkey, and its advantage is its emphasis on earlier history in the development of ethnic identity. The balkans and parts of this area are alternatively situated in southeast, southern, eastern europe and central europe. The following 5 pages are in this category, out of 5 total. Maass examines how an ordinary serb could wake up one morning and shoot his neighbor, once a friend. The history of the balkans is thus a history of creative borrowing by local people of the various civilizations that have nominally conquered the region. He is the author of nine books, most recently debating the past. The thracians were advanced in metalworking and in. No other book covers the entire region, or offers such profound insights into the.
The palgrave concise historical atlas of the balkans by d. The distinct identity and fragmentation of the balkans owes much to its common and often turbulent history regarding centuries of ottoman conquest and to its very mountainous geography. The major emphasis of volume 1 is on the movements for national sovereignty, the revolutionary activity associated with them, and the place of these events in the international relations of the day for the major nationalities of the balkan region. History of the balkans by ferdinand schevill nook book. New book explains why the balkans are different emerging. In this video, i included as well the dacian, illyrian and thracian. Diana mishkova is associate professor in modern and contemporary balkan history. The balkans were disrupted by two wars in 1912, as well as rising serbian nationalist groups. Archaeological evidence indicates that the balkans were populated well before the neolithic period new stone age.
Roumen daskalov is professor of modern history at the new bulgarian university and at the central european university. The region takes its name from the balkan mountains, which run through the centre of bulgaria into eastern serbia and then continue to slovenia as the dinaric alps. Mazowers the balkans proved to one packed to the brim in balkan history, and he has shown through this book that he is definitely an expert in this field of study. Throughout history, the balkans have been a crossroads, a zone of endless military, cultural and economic mixing and clashing between europe and asia. At the dawn of recorded history, two indoeuropean peoples dominated the area. A series of didactic resources produced by an extraordinary synergy between historians and experts from various countries, now enriched by a. The 12 best books on balkan history of 2020 thoughtco. Im fed up with my own ignorance about the region, and i think people who hail from there are best qualified to say which books describe their national history most accurately. Dame rebecca takes nearly 1,200 pages of small print to describe. A large portion of this volume is devoted to wartime experiences, the establishment of. Its a short and poetic novel with a strong message about the balkan conflicts and the controversy that has plagued kosovo not only in recent times of independence but throughout the history of the balkan countries formation.
Best books on the balkans and turkey history forum. He explores the reasons for current conflicts and examines the balkans as a religious, cultural, and economic melting pot for europe and asia. The balkans have a long and fascinating history that, sadly, has become dominated by war and division. This story begins on the plains of kosovo during the battle between the ottoman empire and the balkan armies. It has a wonderful chronology of history and seven useful sequential maps of the balkans at the beginning. Balkans simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The assassination of archduke franz ferdinand in the balkan city of sarajevo provided the austrohungarian government with a pretext for crushing serbian nationalism, something it had long desired. The key word for understanding the balkans is process. Encompassing bulgaria, croatia, bosnia and herzegovina, serbia, montenegro, albania, macedonia, greece, and european turkey, the balkans have absorbed many voices and traditions, resulting in. Through robert okeefes articulate narration, listeners will be absorbed by this rich world. The balkans, or the balkan peninsula, is a distinct, and rather large, part of southeastern europe. Throughout history, the balkans have been a crossroads, a zone of endless military, cultural, and economic mixing and clashing between europe. From the moment it was first published in 1997, maria todorovas imagining the balkans became an instant mustread, in particular but not only, for readers interested in the history of the balkans. For practical purposes the story begins with the greeks, because the greeks, though not the original inhabitants of the peninsula, were the first to leave a clear record of themselves and their neighbors.
Link to this page view link to the book embed a mini book reader 1 page 2 pages open to this page. Balkans have long history and to many hat mixing, as we sai in bulgaria. See the history of the balkans from the bronze age 2600 bce to nowadays 2017. A short history for free in a convenient format epub, pdf, fb2, mobi. So i dont really know anything about balkan europe, i was wondering if theres any comprehensive books about their history.
Throughout history, the balkans have been a crossroads, a zone of endless military, cultural, and economic mixing and clashing between europe and asia, christianity. Throughout history, the balkans have been a crossroads, a zone of endless military, cultural, and economic mixing and clashing between europe and asia, christianity and islam, catholicism and orthodoxy. Mark mazowers the balkans, a short history, is the third in the series of books in the modern library chronicles. He maintains that violence is no more endemic to the balkans than any other part of europe, for example, and that for most of its history the area had. The heart of the book deals with events from the emergence of the nationstate onward.
Three authors discussed the breakdown of yugoslavia and the future of the balkan states. The balkans in world history by wachtel, andrew baruch ebook. Mr austin was inspired by the book balkan ghosts, a journey through history by robert kaplan, a correspondent for the atlantic monthly, who almost 10 years ago wrote about those countries that have been the crucible of the twentieth century, the place where terrorism and genocide first became tools of. The chicago distribution center has reopened and is fulfilling orders. Volume 2 deals primarily with events in the 20th century.
Each is a very short history of a area or theme by a renowned historian or writer with a knowledge in that area. Inside the balkan nightmare history books the guardian. Modern bulgarian history from stambolov to zhivkov budapest. The vexed history of travel writing about the balkans. During the second world war serbian royalist chetniks were heroesor were they villains.
Dame rebecca wests black lamb and grey falcon, first published in 1941, is the perfect literary metaphor for the balkans. In this fascinating work, winner of the wolfson prize for history mark mazower uncovers the history of the balkans with detail and clarity. The balkans modern library chronicles audiobook by. Copy and paste one of these options to share this book elsewhere. With roots back in preroman, roman and ottoman times, as well as the horrors of the conflicts of the 90s, you will be able to learn about times gone by in the most handson of ways. For the otoman period you can find the wonderful book of peter f. A gem of a book, packed with illuminating information. This book is concerned with the story of man on the southeastern projection of europe, known as the balkan peninsula. Nationalism, war and the great powers by misha glenny, grant. In this brief but significant account, mazower dark continent, 1998 dispels a number of common misconceptions about one of the most misunderstood regions and peoples in the world. The variety of quotes from significant people who studied or played their part in balkan history was evidence of extensive research which helped me in understanding more clearly contemporary opinion of events at the time. Learning about history first hand is way more fun than flipping pages of a history book, and in the balkans, there is plenty of history to discover. A skillful navigation of the stormy seas of balkan history.
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