The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-2011

by Misha Glenny

Overview

This unique and lively history of Balkan geopolitics since the early nineteenth century gives readers the essential historical background to recent events in this war-torn area. No other book covers the entire region, or offers such profound insights into the roots of Balkan violence, or explains so vividly the origins of modern Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania. Misha Glenny presents a lucid and fair-minded account of each national group in the Balkans and its struggle for statehood. The narrative is studded with sharply observed portraits of kings, guerrillas, bandits, generals, and politicians. Glenny also explores the often-catastrophic relationship between the Balkans and the Great Powers, raising some disturbing questions about Western intervention.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101610992
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/25/2012
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	800
Sales rank:	541,122
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The longtime central European correspondent for the BBC World Service based in Vienna, Misha Glenny has lived in and worked all over the Balkans. His books include The Rebirth of History and The Fall of Yugoslavia, winner of the 1992 Overseas Press Club Award for Best Book on Foreign Affairs.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xi

Maps xiii

Introduction xxi

1 A confederacy of peasants: Rebellion and revolution, 1804-66 1

2 The realm of ruins: Reform and decay, 1839-78 70

3 A maze of conspiracy: The southern Balkans, 1878-1914 135

4 The empire of illusions: The northern Balkans, 1878-1914 249

5 A house of wars: War and peace, 1914-24 307

6 The palaces of deceit: The royal dictatorships, 1923-41 393

7 City of the dead: Occupation, genocide, liberation, civil war, 1941-9 478

8 Prisons of history: Communism and militarism, 1949-89 545

9 The Balkan vortex: Nationalism, war and NATO, 1989-99 634

Epilogue: The Swinging Doors: Europe, crime and economic crisis, 1999-2012 663

Glossary 707

Notes 711

Bibliography 733

Index 747

What People are Saying About This

Dusko Doder

"Excellent . . . Glenny's audacious theme is that the Balkans are not a freestanding powder keg, but a 'powder trail' laid by the great powers themselves."

Neal Ascherson

"Misha Glenny is the wisest and most reflective of all the Western journalists who have covered this part of Europe in the past two decades . . . this was an enormously ambitious book to undertake, but it is the book which Europe and America need."

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

"Above all, the book is justified by the insights which add up to a convincing picture of the problems."

Jonathan Steele

"An endeavor which deserves extraordinary admiration and as yet has no rival."

Jonathan Eyal

"Compelling . . . Glenny's book should be required reading for all those wishing to know what has gone wrong with the region."

David Rieff

"A very considerable achievement . . . both heart-rending and beautifully judged."

Editorial Reviews

"The first comprehensive history of the relationship in the modern era between the great powers and the various Balkan peoples." — San Francisco Chronicle

"A very considerable achievement . . . both heart-rending and beautifully judged." — David Rieff, Los Angeles Times

"Excellent . . . Glenny's audacious theme is that the Balkans are not a freestanding powder keg, but a 'powder trail' laid by the great powers themselves." — Dusko Doder, The New Republic

"Misha Glenny is the wisest and most reflective of all the Western journalists who have covered this part of Europe in the past two decades . . . this was an enormously ambitious book to undertake, but it is the book which Europe and America need." — Neal Ascherson, Observer (UK)

"His book covers an amazing amount of historical and geographical ground, ranging from early nineteenth-century Greece to Kosovo the day before yesterday. . . . This is popular history of the Norman Davies school, conceived on a large scale, highly readable, accessible, full of the music of the past. Its great strengths are evocation, fascinating detail and narrative sweep. A great achievement." — Timothy Garton Ash, Mail on Sunday (UK)

"Above all, the book is justified by the insights which add up to a convincing picture of the problems." — Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Sunday Times (London)

"An endeavor which deserves extraordinary admiration and as yet has no rival." — Jonathan Steele, Guardian (UK)

"Compelling . . . Glenny's book should be required reading for all those wishing to know what has gone wrong with the region." — Jonathan Eyal, Irish Times

From the Publisher

"His book covers an amazing amount of historical and geographical ground, ranging from early nineteenth-century Greece to Kosovo the day before yesterday. . . . This is popular history of the Norman Davies school, conceived on a large scale, highly readable, accessible, full of the music of the past. Its great strengths are evocation, fascinating detail and narrative sweep. A great achievement."

Timothy Garton Ash

"The first comprehensive history of the relationship in the modern era between the great powers and the various Balkan peoples."

San Francisco Chronicle