The Balkans: A Short History

by Mark Mazower

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081296621X
• ISBN13: 9780812966213
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Modern Library
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Brief, in depth, fast shipping

Very interesting read but not for the faint hearted because it is not conveniently broken up into headings that can easily guide one to a site worthy of intense studying. For me I have had to read and reread many pages at a time to get an overall grasp of any subject and have needed parallel references such as Wikipedia or texts now on order with subjects and subtitles to compartmentalize what I seek to learn.

History made comprehensible

This book packs a lot into a little. It is dense and the reader has to be committed to the topic. But for making sense of that fractious part of the world, it is must reading. The closing chapter on violence is particularly noteworthy. If you read it first, you will get an excellent idea of how balanced and careful this historian is.

A fine book

This small pungent read is packed full of information weaved together masterfully in a way that the reader will enjoy. Although some prior knowledge is assumed, for instance an idea of the difference between Islam and Christianity, an idea of what a German is and a Latin. However in general this concise read covers the ground well and unlike other books doesnt telescope the history to the present, allowing the reader to take in the last three or four centuries and not spend 2/3 of the book on the crises of the last ten years. The Balkans is complicted and complex, hence the word 'balkanization'. I would have liked to see more religious, ethnic history. For instance more information on linguistic differneces and the shifting pattersn of migration. However this book is a tour de force, beggining with descrptions of the landscape it takes the reader from the 4th century to the most modern one, showing the complex history of this complex region. Seth J. Frantzman

compact and useful

This is a terrific little book. I thought it did an excellent job of presenting the history of the Balkans in a way that helps the reader understand the present situation but without making the outcome out to be inevitalbe. There is a lot to cover in a small number of pages so it does take some work to keep all of the parts in one's mind. But, it's worth the effort. It also does a good job of showing how much discussion of nationalism by political philosophers such as Will Kymlicka is, at best, much too simple and rose-colored. I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting a nice overview. Unlike some other reviewers I also thought it was written in a nice, readable style. It also contains several useful maps.

Concise, Clearly Written & Comprehensive

In approximately 185 pages, the author manages to convey and briefly analyze significant historical events in the Balkans in a disciplined scholarly manner. I found the book very engaging and readable. I was amazed at the broad scope of information covered. It was not dull, dry or filled with boring details. He begins to unravel the "mystery" of the Balkans by a description of the land and terrain from which the word "Balkans" originated, few people realize the term was coined only about 200 years ago. For human interest, the author intersperses descriptions from diaries written 150 years ago or so by travelers to the region. We have been led to believe the regional conflicts have been ongoing since the beginning of time .. not so, and the author tells us why! Mark Mazower tells us when the conflicts started and who the major players are. The natural environment, mountains and valleys, created a lifestyle which is mostly agrarian and land-locked. The mountains made the area isolated and almost impenetrable both physically and ideologically to the more "civilized" ideas and industries of the more progressive Westernized European nations. One can understand how the region catapulted into an urbanized industrial complex *only* within the past 200 years. The author clearly writes about the social and political impact of the Ottoman Empire on the Balkans. I was impressed how the author could connect the "peasant values" and lifestyle with the political forces which constantly shaped and redefined the area. The migration of people and their adaptability to the imposed changes due to wars and conflicts is totally amazing. The impact of the decisions of the Great Powers on "nation-building" in the region was explained with erudite precision. The importance of the Greek language in the region due to the past is brought to light. The author's ability to tie ancient history to current events is quite remarkable. This book is highly recommended to anyone who has a desire to learn more about the people and history of the Balkans. It is written by a highly knowledgeable author, former Princeton University professor, who has no personal agenda or ties to the region. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Comprehensive and Enlightening

Mazower takes on the whole history of the region from the fifteenth century onward, and while the shortness of the book requires generalization, he peppers almost every paragraph with a quote or two from a historian of the time or else a peasant or notable. These quotes tend to ground Mazower's sweeping analysis. Moreover, he puts the Balkans into the context of the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, and he shows why individual studies of each nation in the region sometimes miss a larger context. One fact needs to be corrected: the Patriarchate in Istanbul now presides not only over the 2,000 Greek Orthodox Christians in that city, but also over all the Greek Orthodox Christians in Australia, and North and South America, as well as some non-Greek denominations in those continents. If I'm not mistaken, the Palestinian and Syrian Orthodox churches also come nominally under that Ecumenical guidance.