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Title: The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers, 1804-1999 by Misha Glenny ISBN: 0-14-023377-6 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 28 August, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.91 (23 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A master work; balanced and with depth
Comment: Glenny's The Balkans is easily the best work on the subject in print to date. While managing to stay above the fray of inter-ethnic rivalries, Glenny provides a clear picture of modern Balkan history, arguing that the troubles the region suffers from is not the result of years of mutual ethnic hatereds, but rather the result of constant interference by the Great Powers (whomever that may be at the time.) The book is just short of encyclopedic - its depth and scope can be overwhelming at times. Nonetheless, I found it a fascinating read. Glenny looks beyond "Yugoslavia" in his study of the Balkans, giving attention to Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania as players (and victims) in the "Eastern Quesiton." This is as it should be. His argument about "outside forces" interfereing with the nationalistic development of the Balkan peoples is convinving. Yet there are flaws. The Slovenes are hardly addressed at all; one would think they warrant at least some consideration in any discussion of the area. Comparitively little time is spent on Romania and Bulgaria after the Second World War, and even less is devoted to the sticky issues of the Vojvodina, Banat and Backa - all of which face similar issues with Serbia as Kossovo does. My final criticism is his all too brief treatment and hasty analysis of the "disintegration" of Yugoslavia in the early 90's. With that said, I recommend this book to the serious reader or student of the region only. The information is dense, the history is complicated, and the major players (within and without the Balkans) can confuse the uninitiated. I am confident you will enjoy The Balkans as much as I did.
Rating: 5
Summary: Comprehensive, clear, and readable
Comment: Misha Glenny succeeds marvelously at presenting a broad history of southeastern Europe as a combination of national and international forces. He does not unduly belabor his points, he is generally fair to all his subjects, and he organizes an incredible amount of information into a coherent framework without relying on grandiose theories. Some academic types may deride this as mere "informed journalism", but it is refreshing to read a history book of this scale in which the author relies on knowledge and literary competence rather than hagiography, melodrama, or overindulgent theorizing.
Throughout the book Glenny tries to demonstrate that the region's contemporary problems are mainly the result of interference from the great powers rather than suppressed historical animosities. Ultimately I think the book demonstrates otherwise, showing that while the great powers were excellent enablers, strife in the Balkans has consistently been fueled by local alliances, less-than-neighborly designs on Bosnia, Croat fascism, Serb nationalism, Albanian exceptionalism, etc. That Glenny's point can be well taken but is not entirely convincing is an enormous credit to him as a writer even if it diminishes him as an advocate.
The greatest problem I have with the book is that it is not long enough. Postwar history, which reads as a comparatively brief outline, could use another two hundred pages.
Rating: 5
Summary: A monumental work with only minor shortcomings
Comment: Misha Glenny attempts the unimaginable by trying to write a two hundred year comprehensive history of nationalism in the Balkans. Stunningly, his work is a tremedous success of epic proportions. His basic thesis is that the problems in the Balkans are not a result of the ignorance or war like nature of the Balkan people as many suggest but rather a result of the carelessness of Imperialism and the great powers.
Glenny's evidence is primarily drawn from the events leading up to and including WWI. Here lies the great strenght of the work. Glenny gives an in depth and accurate evaluation of the reasons for imperialistic expansion and how these actions affected the Balkan peoples. The overview of WWII is equally enlightening but not quite as impressive as that of WWI.
The book does have some minor shortcomings when it comes to the communist period. The chronological that Glenny keeps so nicely in place before beginnigs to break down. In addition, some areas lack in depth review. Most notalbly, there is very little of Bulgarian Strongman Todor Zhivkov. Most disappointing is dearth of information on the Bosinan War of 1992-5 and the war in Kosovo. It probably goes a little beyond the scope of the work which is primarily a backgroung to this situation. At 660 pages you cannot complain too much that he decided to end it but it does leave you wanting a little more.
Glenny was a correspondent for the BBC which makes the book a lot more accessible than most of the pedantic works put out by academia. His writing is entertaining enough with just enough anecdotes to keep the reader focused. Sometimes he feels the need to share his own personel views, like his opposition to the death penalty. (there is a slight European bias but nothing to be concern the average reader.) The work is comprehensive and easily the best read you will find on Balkan nationalism in general.
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Title: Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation by Laura Silber, Allan Little ISBN: 0140262636 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia by Tim Judah, Timothy Judah ISBN: 0300085079 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Kosovo : A Short History by Noel Malcolm, University Pres New York ISBN: 0060977752 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Bridge on the Drina (A Phoenix Book ; P746) by Ivo Andric, Lovett F. Edwards ISBN: 0226020452 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: February, 1984 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Bosnia: A Short History by Noel Malcolm ISBN: 0814755615 Publisher: New York University Press Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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