Product Description
"Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804" provides an over-all picture of the least studied and most obscured part of Balkan history, the Ottoman period. The book begins with the early history of the Ottomans and with their establishment in Europe, describing the basic Muslim and Turkish features of the Ottoman state. The author goes on in subsequent sections to show how these features influenced every aspect of life in the European lands administered directly by the Ottomans (the 'core' provinces) and left a permanent mark on states that were vassals of or paid tribute to the empire.Whether dealing with the 'core' provinces of Rumelia or with the vassal and tribute-paying states (Moldavia, Wallachia, Transylvania, and Dubrovik), the author offers fresh insights and new interpretations, as well as a wealth of information on Balkan political, economic, and social history not available elsewhere.The appendixes include lists of dynasties and rulers with whom the Ottomans dealt, as well as data for the House of Osman and some of the grand viziers; a chronology of major military campaigns, peace treaties, and territory gained and lost by the Ottoman Empire in Europe from 1354 to 1804; and, glossaries of geographical names and foreign terms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Likely to be good
I have not yet received this item from Amazon so have a little bit of difficulty knowing what it is lke, but I expect it will be good.

Outstanding History!
I was fortunate enought to read this book while taking a class taught by the author,Dr. Peter Sugar, at the Unversity of Washington in 1983.This is not light reading, but will be engrossing to those to whom History is a passion.I would also recommend any of Dr. Sugar's books regarding the History of Eastern Europe and the Balkan States (Dr. Sugar is a Bosnian, raised in Hungary who came to the United States at about the time of WWII, as I recall) as the author's insights and clarity are superb!! ... Read more

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In the decade after World War II, up to 350,000 ethnic Italians were displaced from the border zone between Italy and Yugoslavia known as the Julian March. History in Exile reveals the subtle yet fascinating contemporary repercussions of this often overlooked yet contentious episode of European history. Pamela Ballinger asks: What happens to historical memory and cultural identity when state borders undergo radical transformation? She explores displacement from both the viewpoints of the exiles and those who stayed behind. Yugoslavia's breakup and Italy's political transformation in the early 1990s, she writes, allowed these people to bring their histories to the public eye after nearly half a century.

Examining the political and cultural contexts in which this understanding of historical consciousness has been formed, Ballinger undertakes the most extensive fieldwork ever done on this subject--not only around Trieste, where most of the exiles settled, but on the Istrian Peninsula (Croatia and Slovenia), where those who stayed behind still live. Complementing this with meticulous archival research, she examines two sharply contrasting models of historical identity yielded by the "Istrian exodus": those who left typically envision Istria as a "pure" Italian land stolen by the Slavs, whereas those who remained view it as ethnically and linguistically "hybrid." We learn, for example, how members of the same family, living a short distance apart and speaking the same language, came to develop a radically different understanding of their group identities. Setting her analysis in engaging, jargon-free prose, Ballinger concludes that these ostensibly very different identities in fact share a startling degree of conceptual logic. ... Read more

Product Description
The Balkan Peninsula is often referred to as the _powder keg of Europe._ However, it would be more accurate to refer to this area as the _melting pot of Europe._ Author Alexandru Madgearu discusses the ethnic heterogeneity in modern day Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia and traces its history in The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula: Their Medieval Origins.Madgearu examines the historical evolutions that led to the genesis of several conflict areas in the Balkans. These areas, and the events that took place in them, transformed the Balkan Peninsula into a very intricate ethnic mosaic, where no group of people has the majority within a large area. The various ethnic and religious differences these groups possess have survived the many occupations of this land over the years, whether it be by the Roman, Byzantine, or Ottoman Empires, and then became manifest when the modern Balkan states were created. With the dissolution of any strong outside force dominating the area, the Balkan states_prompted by political propaganda and nationalist ideologies_used history to support territorial claims, defend ethnic cleansing actions, and justify conflicts with other countries. The Wars of the Balkan Peninsula argues that the current ethnic structure is the basis for the solution of the disputes between the Balkan states and that history should be used to explain, not to legitimize the conflicts. ... Read more

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With a new introduction by TRAIAN STOIANOVICH

A monumental work of scholarship, The Balkans Since 1453 stands as one of the great accomplishments of European historiography. Long out of print, Stavrianos' opus both synthesizes the existing literature of Balkan studies since World War I and demonstrates the centrality of the Balkans to both European and world history, a centrality painfully apparent in recent years.

Customer Reviews (6)

Important but with myths
This very important and extensive work that gives a quick and concise but nevertheless essential history of the Balkans since 1453 provides much to the reader in the way of detail.It is an excellent history.However it also is responsible for creating threee enduring myths in Eastern European history.First it defined the period after 1800 as the 'era of nationalism'.THis is strange, for the same movement in Africa and elsewhere, when people revolted against colonial masters, was called the 'age of liberation'.So why it is nationalism when it is Europeans rebelling against Muslim colonialism?

Secondly it repeats the myth that all history everywhere(from Africa to India to Central Asia to Spain) begins with Muslim occupation.1453 was the date of the fall of constantinople.However this ignores the fact that there was a deep cultural history of the Balkans before Islam and that the Ottomans were merely a foreign yoke.

Thirdly the book downplays Ottoman atrocities such as the sale of Greeks into slavery after 1832, the very existence of slavery(selling of CHristians by Muslims) is not given any real coverage, the Bulgarian massacres are also ignored. Had it been Europeans colonizing the Balkans and selling the Slavs to be sure this would have been one of the main themes but because it was the Ottoman Muslims it is ignored.Thus an important text is also responsible for many enduring myths.

Seth J. Frantzman

the balkans since 1453
This was the best textbook I ever had and the course on Balkan history taught by Charles Jelavich at Indiana University, with this book,was the best I ever took. Unfortunately I lost my copy years ago. Now that the Mideast is once again a mess, Iturned to look for a copy. I am happy to see it back in print, just sorry the price is so ridiculously high. The book is priceless, but to be contrary this price is too high. The paperback is worth it.

The Seminal Balkan History Book.
This is an indispensable resource for any one interested in Balkan History.It's a comprehensive and wide resource that takes you through the political, economic, and social history of the Balkans, organized by modern state with chapters from each time period on political developments and the Ottoman Empire as a whole.A special focus on ethnic and national issues makes it more than relevant today, despite its age.

indispensable
The book by prof.Stavrianos was the last one I had on my list of books on the Balkans that I had planned to read as background material for my own work on the economies of the EU Candidate Countries, and especially of course the Southeastern ones (the other books were by Glenny, Hodos, Obolensky, Kaplan). It was also the thickest one at 850 pages but I must say it was a pleasure to read.The set-up by theme and by individual country is always clear, and there is a richness of detail and at the same time a broad sweep that gives a very good overview. This is indeed what makes this book an exellent and impressive reference work, as the other reviewers also indicated and with which i can only concur. This richness also sometimes made me skip a few pages as I was not interested in every detail but this is not a criticism per se; there will be something in this book for all interested in the Balkans without necessarily wanting to take note of all the information that is there.

For me as an economist, what the author makes clear and what struck me in particular was how the combination of economic (agricultural, industrial, financial, infrastructural) underdevelopment and social and political problems (health, education, ethnic and reliious) that are still present today in many of these countries, have been part of their history for centuries.This does not mean they are immutable (and becoming an EU Member is the best way to break this deadlock, I am convinced) but it shows how deep a legacy needs to be overcome.So for this insight already for me the book was well worth reading.In combination with M. Glenny who provides a modern history of the period 1800-1990s there is of course some overlap but I can recommend to have them both (Glenny is perhaps more lively written). Stavrianos will stand as the reference work by which others are measured.

Still the standard
Even though this book was first published over 40 years ago, it is still the seminal text on general Balkan history. L.S. Stavrianos provided a detailed, comprehensive yet immensely readable survey of events and developments in the Balkans since the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. He deals with each country/region individually, but also maintains an overall perspective and analysis. Even if the narrative ends with the immediate post-World War II years, this text illuminates many of the historical precedents that underpin current events in the region. It is therefore much more useful to read this book than the many essentially popular histories written about the Balkans as a whole or the invidual countries in the region over the course of the last decade. The publisher should also be commended for re-issuing this book; for years the about only place one could find it was at major universities and larger, better-stocked public libraries. There's no substitute for this book, it is a must-read for everyone who really wants to learn about Balkan history. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a narrative political history of the northern Balkans in the period 900-1204. It treats the Balkans as the frontier of the Byzantine empire, and considers imperial relations with the peoples living in the Balkans, including the Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians and Hungarians. It also considers responses to invasions from beyond the frontier: by steppe nomads, from beyond the Danube, and by western powers through Hungary and across the Adriatic sea. The first four crusades, 1095-1204, are considered in some detail, and extensive use is made of archaeology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An important contribution to the Balkan history
Paul Stephenson reached several conclusions that are really revolutionary for the study of the Byzantine administration in the Balkan provinces. The increasing interest for the Balkan history (not only for the modern times) denotes the need to understand the roots of the present conflicts. Stephenson's book explains how and why the disintegration of the Byzantine administration and the emergence of the ethnic states in the Balkans were possible. His main idea is that "Byzantine authority was almost always exercised through existing local power structures". Can we consider these surviving local structures to be a cause of the future Balkan separatism, even if they were not always the expression of "national" solidarities ? We think so, because also the Ottoman administration preserved and used in its interest the power of some Albanian, Serbian and Bosniac local potentates, after their conversion to Islam and even before. Stephenson has payed a special attention to the significance of the frontier as an ideological limit between the civilized world and the barbarians. He also introduces a new concept: the internal frontiers of the territories mastered by the local authochtonous rulers by whom the Byzantine administration was exerted. The book brings valuable arguments for the new interpretation of the 11th century supported by P. Lemerle and more recently by M. Angold against Ostrogorsky's old viewpoint. Stephenson shows that the shift to `civilian' government was not a decline, because "the Byzantine economy was growing rapidly" and that the defence policy based on warfare was replaced with a more adecquate policy based on trade and gifts for the barbarians ("traiding, not raiding"). He considers that Basil II left a poisoned legacy: a too large and expensive army, and that his `civilian' successors tried to transform the general strategy after the hard Pecheneg inroads of 1036, when became obvious that a classical limes is not useful. Unlike many works of Byzantine political history, this book gives much attention to the rich archaeological and numismatic evidence, carefully used in order to supply the scarcity of the literary sources. Some points are disputable or even wrong, but, generally speaking, the use of archaeology led him to important conclusions I consider that the most important Stephenson's contributions concern the history of the Paradunavon province (in northern Bulgaria and Dobrudja) and the Byzantine-Hungarian relations in the 12th century. Other subjects dealt in are: the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria, the restoration of this state after the rebellion led by the Vlach rulers Peter and Asan in the form of a Romanian-Bulgarian state, the small Slavic principalities in the Serbian lands. Albeit a high-scientific work, this book can easily be read by any people interested in the medieval history. We can be sure that this book will be considered a major contribution to the history of the South-Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages....END

An important contribution to the Balkan history
Paul Stephenson reached several conclusions that are really revolutionary for the study of the Byzantine administration in the Balkan provinces. The increasing interest for the Balkan history (not only for the modern times) denotes the need to understand the roots of the present conflicts. Stephenson's book explains how and why the disintegration of the Byzantine administration and the emergence of the ethnic states in the Balkans were possible. His main idea is that "Byzantine authority was almost always exercised through existing local power structures". Can we consider these surviving local structures to be a cause of the future Balkan separatism, even if they were not always the expression of "national" solidarities ? We think so, because also the Ottoman administration preserved and used in its interest the power of some Albanian, Serbian and Bosniac local potentates, after their conversion to Islam and even before. Stephenson has payed a special attention to the significance of the frontier as an ideological limit between the civilized world and the barbarians. He also introduces a new concept: the internal frontiers of the territories mastered by the local authochtonous rulers by whom the Byzantine administration was exerted. The book brings valuable arguments for the new interpretation of the 11th century supported by P. Lemerle and more recently by M. Angold against Ostrogorsky's old viewpoint. Stephenson shows that the shift to `civilian' government was not a decline, because "the Byzantine economy was growing rapidly" and that the defence policy based on warfare was replaced with a more adecquate policy based on trade and gifts for the barbarians ("traiding, not raiding"). He considers that Basil II left a poisoned legacy: a too large and expensive army, and that his `civilian' successors tried to transform the general strategy after the hard Pecheneg inroads of 1036, when became obvious that a classical limes is not useful. Unlike many works of Byzantine political history, this book gives much attention to the rich archaeological and numismatic evidence, carefully used in order to supply the scarcity of the literary sources. Some points are disputable or even wrong, but, generally speaking, the use of archaeology led him to important conclusions I consider that the most important Stephenson's contributions concern the history of the Paradunavon province (in northern Bulgaria and Dobrudja) and the Byzantine-Hungarian relations in the 12th century. Other subjects dealt in are: the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria, the restoration of this state after the rebellion led by the Vlach rulers Peter and Asan in the form of a Romanian-Bulgarian state, the small Slavic principalities in the Serbian lands. Albeit a high-scientific work, this book can easily be read by any people interested in the medieval history. We can be sure that this book will be considered a major contribution to the history of the South-Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages.

Dr. Alexandru Madgearu ... Read more

Product Description
This book explores historical discourses on the various forms of identity production in film that are based on memory and shows how these narratives get 'mediated' by (documentary) film. Most films about the Balkans produced in the last two decades were in fact made in response to immediate concerns about the economic crises and political conflicts that struck the region during the 1990s. These new forms of communication about history mostly show a rather self-critical approach. The book's case studies give the reader a clear idea of how processes informing identity formations are directly launched and later on maintained in peoples' real and everyday lives. Thus, the case studies' principal objective is to integrate the study of 'private space' with existing macro-debates in politics as well as with dominant discourses within the academic community. The included case studies focus on several topics, i.e. migration, the reproduction and protection of personal as well as collective identities in post-socialist societies, revolutionary processes towards the official end of the Cold War, the (re-)creation of politically constructed narratives, generational conflicts in the post-socialist period, and the fate of women during the war. The multifaceted view of the region under focus in this study shows that common grounds and differences co-exist in the Balkan space, be it on a cultural, economic, social or (geo)-political level. Apart from the field of film studies, this work is a powerful contribution to cultural history as well as to the growing field of visual history. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The down-to-earth memoir of a modern mercenary via Harvard . . .

Customer Reviews (22)

The Book I Should've Read Fifteen Years Ago
`A down-to-earth account of modern war-?' Yes, and one ridiculous understatement at that. Rob Krott's, Save The Last Bullet For Yourself, is the book I should've read fifteen years ago. By that, I mean as someone who grew up enthralled by war writing, and admittedly had a large collection of Soldier of Fortune magazines at an early age, I prayed the Balkan conflict would last long enough for me to get a piece of it.

If I had to sum it up in one word, that would be, authentic. Pop culture minutia hits our world and culture like flak, but this is the real deal. He covers two wars in three tours, describes the ins and outs of being a contractor, and lays to rest much of the romance and fantasy of that world. He gives the reader rather fascinating insights into the insanity of the Balkan conflict, describing in the clearest voice I've yet found, the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a professional gun for hire among amateurs, criminals, and garden variety psychopaths, in that particularly confusing war. Not to mention a look at the run up to the Somalia debacle that will flat out break your heart.

Despite the often harsh reality described in the book, he writes it well enough to stir the old blood lust and desperate need for adventure that led me to the military and my own war. Unlike some other memoirs, it's not told as some Hollywood-esque, woe is me, whiny liberal pipe dream about how combat ruined his life and forced him to become a drug addict. It's just the truth. And in proper warrior-poet fashion, there are moments of deep reflection. Love lost, picturesque farms in small valleys, vineyards in the morning sun, and another life, quietly lamented by a restless ronin.

The combat described in the book is...real. It's not some idiotically over the top fluff fantasy. It's matter of fact. This is what happened; this is how it happened, told in a professional manner. A true warrior, telling an honest tale, there is more written about the quirks, mannerisms, and day to day habits of his compatriots than of killing and taking names. The book is filled nuggets of information on soldiering, weaponry, and combat. I really liked his description of sentry removal with the proper use of the garrote. You don't see that much anymore. That's called style, kids.

The book is peppered with a natural use of foreign euphemisms one would acquire and incorporate into their speech when they've spent several years as a soldier of fortune, in the company of expat soldiers from all over the world. While it gives it a man of the world feel many will appreciate, I like this because it gives it a certain old school Dogs of War, Wild Geese vibe. Highly recommended.

S.A. Bailey, -former paratrooper,Iraq vet., and author of And The Rain Came Down

Gritty and Realistic
Rob Krott has the perfect writing style for this type of memoir.

Enough technical details to let people know that he is knowledgeable and experienced but doesn't let them get in the way of his narrative and the human element.

Highly entertaining and a good introduction to a field and areas of operation that few Americans know exist.

With PMC's becoming a larger portion of our national defense posture books such as this serve a vital function in educating the public as to where and how our tax dollars go.

Excellent introduction to the lay man interested in foreign affairs from a street level perspective.

Social commentary cloaked in gritty travelouge
Review: Save the Last Bullet for Yourself
By Rob Krott


On the surface Save The Last Bullet For Yourself may appear to be just another travelogue penned by just another nomad in the global village. The gem of the work, however, is in it's sub-currents; namely the social dynamics of areas where humans fight each other. From the idiot ridden world of government contractors to the brutal amateur hour of Balkan combatants, Jesuit schooled smart guy turned wandering warrior Krott injects fine tuned social observations into what is admittedly an extreme version of the wanderlust tale.

A great many false perceptions get stripped away, such as the mystique of the "Mercenary" who came to the Balkans to fight for pay to the supposed top shelf talent that runs many of our government's contracted services. A refreshing breath of "The way it really is" in a sea of works teeming with social agendalist angst.

That's what makes Last Bullet such an engaging and interesting read. Not only will the reader get taken on a madcap journey into the chaotic world of the "Have Gun, Will travel" set, but they'll also get a good historical and social perspective on the events which drew the author in the first place.

Eminently readable, at times tragic and hilarious, Last Bullet is a work rare in it's field, combining the grit, the gruff and the academic in one fast paced tale of globetrotter taken to the outer limits. Hitchhikers Guide to Dangerous Places.

Save the Last Bullet for Krott
It was with some small sense of annoyance that I began to read this book. I had no idea it had been published until I stumbled across a review for it by accident and, as someone who had actually served with Rob in Bosnia during his second tour, I was a tad miffed I hadn't been sent a freebie. Sure I'd moved house five times (and countries once) and hadn't passed on any contact numbers. And, yes, I may well have forgotten to answer any of Rob's initial comms.But that's not the point...

Rob's narrative style is accessible and entertaining. The book is definitely a page turner. I read it in one hit without intending to do so over the course of a full day and found it fascinating, especially the chapters on Rob's time in Somalia. The absence of political correctness here is refreshing. Honest, heart-felt analysis (and plenty of Boys Own-esque adventures) from a man whose involvement with the pointy bit of Operation Restore Hope puts him in a position to comment on the little victories and major screw-ups thereof with far greater validity than many other pundits. Sure, there'll be at least one major US contractor who'll be less than pleased with some observations but hey, Rob tells it the way he sees it.

The book opens in Bosnia with Rob defending himself not against an invading enemy but a seriously pissed off and equally pissed up fellow volunteer. In a place where life was cheap, normal moral values corroded by exposure to death and destruction on a frightening scale and right and wrong often decided by the man who pulled the trigger first, this was not an unusual incident. I personally know the characters involved and Rob was lucky to escape with his life. We then flash-back with Rob as he shares - with no-holds-barred comment, humour and a keen sense of the absurd, the story of just how he ended up in such a situation. And no, it wasn't entirely his fault.

It must be said, though, that he does have a penchant for annoying people. Even people who have never met him have tracked him down and threatened to kill him. Truly, read the book. I recall on one occasion making some sarcastic comment to him and having him emphasize his response by jabbing away in my general direction with a huge Bowie knife he had been using; talk about pointed remarks and, it must be said, quite annoying. Still, I like to think he meant it in a caring way. And to show there were no hard feelings he let me tramp miles through mud and snow to some place called the "front line" where we had tea and sardines and watched the other side preparing to spoil our jolly day out.

Rob Krott is the antithesis of the Mitty clones whose writings and ramblings litter the bookshelves (and now the Internet, of course). He has "been there" and "done that" to death. His sometimes abrasive personality aside, Rob is a bloody decent chap, an effective soldier, an "old school" officer and (when it suits him, mind you) a gentleman. A scholar and an adventureholic of the first order, a Harvard-educated US Army Captain and respected combat journalist. He doesn't need to make stuff up, he's too busy doing real things; and now he's found time to add "author" to the list. Pretty cool really, you know.

If your taste in biographical military literature favours the "...and then I kicked the tank into the ditch..." style you might not get all you hoped from Save the Last Bullet for Yourself. But for a fascinating insight into the world (and mind) of the modern freelance soldier/adventurer; and a rare glimpse behind the politically-correct headlines that we are fed from "humanitarian interventions" in places such as Somalia; or just to find out what trouble you can get yourself into if you fear boredom too much, give this book a shot.

True Grit
Hollywood typically paints a picture of glamor, riches, and women awaiting mercenaries. "Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia" by Rob Krott corrects the myth.You will find how Rob Krott made the journey from private in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 1980 to becoming a US Army second lieutenant through the National Guard-ROTC early commissioning program in 1983.He graduated in 1985 with a bachelor of arts in history from Saint Bonaventure University. You go with him as he attends Harvard University for three semesters while stationed at Fort Devins, Massachusetts. You will learn how he had the journey from US Army officer to soldier of fortune.

As I started reading the book it immediately became apparent how little I knew of the geography of the Balkans and Somalia.I went looking for maps in the book to help me out with the locations he talked about.There were no maps.In future additions of the book it would be helpful to have a map of the areas discussed.

I was amazed at how amateurish the local leaders and military were.How foreigners were treated as "cannon fodder" instead of having their talents put to good use in training the locals. It was interesting to be told that almost everyone had a weapon.The variety of and quality of weapons used was an eye opener to me.

I appreciated the grittiness of the book.It had numerous small unit engagements given in detail.His description of Somalia caught my attention."You didn't have to go looking for trouble, like I had with the Bostswanans, to find it in Somalia.It usually came looking for you."

I was surprised to learn about the number of highly decorated and qualified former US Army personnel serving in key training roles. Men like Peck who had been a Special Forces Team commander and exec in Vietnam.He had been a US Army Ranger School instructor, instructor at West Point, Delta Force member, served in Granada. I learned the roles of Dutch, English, and German mercenaries.

Rob Krott paints a vivid future of what a career mercenary's future has for him."...McKenzie's head was mounted on a pole outside the hut ...Nearby lay his emasculated body, identified by his distinctive military tattoos. ... Bob McKenzie had soldiered through Africa's most violent bush wars in the 1970s and 1980s, survived numerous mercenary contracts around the world and close combat operations during a major offensive in the Balkans, only to die in an unimportant skirmish on an unnamed hillside in an unknown African backwater."

The book doesn't explain the politics of the local situation, the biodiversity, or give a big picture strategic viewpoint.It is a very good you are there on the ground memoir of a hired grunt toting his rifle to two of the 1990s hotspots.I recommend "Save the Last Bullet for Yourself" by Rob Krott.

Casemate Publishing, 2008; Read and Reviewed by Jimmie Aaron Kepler January 2010.





... Read more

Product Description
From the "Terror of the World" to the "Sick Man of Europe" sheds new light on the hotly debated issue of Orientalism by looking at the European images of the Ottoman Empire and society over three centuries. Through a careful examination of the European intellectual discourse, this book claims that there was no coherent and constant Europewide vision of the Turks until the eighteenth century and clearly demonstrates that the Age of Reason has not rendered reasonable images of the Turks. Indeed, once inspiring awe, the European opinion of Ottomans was held in contempt during this period. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A brief overlook at the Balkans
This is a well prepared, objective, non-academic "reader-friendly" book, in spite of being about one of the most complicated corners of the world (historically and politically) doesn't godeep and drawn in details so thats why I preferred to call it "readerfriendly". Great Job. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

History of the Balkan Peoples
'History of the Balkan Peoples',is written by French diplomat,Rene Ristelhueber,and translated into English by Sherman D. Specter,with both men recieving equal billing on the book cover.Mr. Ristelhueber served in the French military during WW 1,at Salonika,Athens,and Constantinople.Some of Mr. Ristelhueber's diplomatic posts took him to Norway,Lithuania,Tunisia,and Bulgaria,and he spent WW 2 in Canada.His last "official" job was with The International Refugee Organization,1946-52.

If you are looking for a very detailed book on the Balkans,and it's many ethnic groups,and their histories,then this is the book.It is an indispensable reference material for any serious student of Balkan affairs,which are rooted in historical claims.

The book aptly starts with the ancient Greeks and gives a very detailed account of all of the Balkan peoples,including the long forgotten ancient ones such as the Dacian/Getae,Scythian,Vlach's and many more.This book has substantial histories of the Greeks,Bulgarians,Serbs,Rumanian's,and Turks.And also has specific accounts of these aforementioned Slavic peoples won their independance from the Ottoman Turks.Moving on through the Balkan War's,WW1 and WW2,and ending with a synopsis of the Balkan States since 1950 by Mr. Spector.Many maps are also included in the pages of this book,and help in making the reader understand every one of the Balkan peoples yearning for their previously "Great" state. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1920.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sorting Out Chestnuts
HISTORIANS HAVE LEFT US MANY chestnuts about the origins of the Vlachs. The field is long on theory but short on scholarship. Tom Winnifrith helps to change that. The long espoused postulatum that the Vlachs are the descendents of pilloried and forgotten Legionnaire posts along the via egnatia gains more credible ground in Winnifrith's treatise.

And just in the nick of time.

Sundry groups of nationalists take an interest in claiming the Vlachoi because they manifest in their wide settlements the confirmation or rejection of nationalist ambitions for neighboring territories. Romanian and Greek historians, for example, continue to vie for international recognition of their claims that they are the physical progenitors of the Vlachs; if Vlachs are the sons and daughters of Greeks, then Greeks have that much further claim on historically disputed Romanian lands.

The historical Vlach is perhaps better understood than the modern Vlach. They can at least claim the minds and pens of the Byzantine chroniclers; Anna Comnena wrote from her diary that the appearance of the Vlachs coincided with the Pechineg invasion of 1091 AD, and she supposes they are the lucky descendents of those "who lived to see May." But their citation in Byzantine history is enigmatic, as well: they are often fighting for and against the Eastern Roman Empire simultaneously, making them frontier pariah.

In many ways the enigmatic historical narrative of the Vlachs has not changed. They stand apart from the nation states they live in. "Under the Turkish Empire," Winnifrith writes, "the vlachs [sic] were just one more subject race; in the nation states of Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece they are a discouraged minority."

Winnifrith has written a traveler's tale: he returns to the mysterious northern Pindus range to revive a smoldering fascination for these anachronistic people, said, by his own account of the fascination, to have begun innocently enough on a bus ride through rural Greece. A! rmed with census reports, several centuries of other traveler's tales, and the slim scholarly works of his predecessors, Winnifrith visits the remaining communities and investigates their strategies for survival. Winnifrith's own hypothesis for the origin of the sedulous Vlach does not fall far from the Chestnut tree: Vlachs are not the descendents of garrisons along the via egnatia; but are the descendents of fallen garrisons further south combined with brigands of defeated Goths who teamed with the Romans and willingly accepted their language. ... Read more

Product Description
Published by the Allies' most respected historians on the eve of World War I, this book served as a backgrounder on one of Europe's key trouble spots. Still a superb overview of a region which remains unsettled to this day.

This masterfully crafted eBook faithfully preserves the 1916 revised second edition. It is fully-searchable and fully-printable. (254pp, 1.87 Mb) ... Read more