A very special book.

One of the stereotypes about Bosnia and the recent conflicts was the common complaint that the history and culture of the region were impossibly complex, incomprehensible. The stereotype furnished a convenient excuse for those who wished to acquiesce in the organized aggression and crimes and the country and its people.

This short book is the clearest, most accessible account of Bosnian culture, history, and identity available in English. It should be the first book read in any discussion of Bosnia. Each phase of history--from the medieval period to the tragic wars and genocide of 1992-1995--is depicted with concision, humanity, and depth. The writing is lucid and the stunning black-and-white photo-illustrations are integrated with care and sensitivity into the narrative. Recommended not only for those interested in Bosnia-Herzegovina only, but for those interested in European history, East-West relations, and the dynamic of religion, culture, and identity; i.e. to both specialists in the Balkans and to the wide readership of those interested in history and culture anywhere.

The reader will emerge with a sense not of incomprehensibility, but of the richness, vitality, and uniqueness of an extraordinary place and people.

An exceptional book, from an exceptional writer. Not that many people understand all the intricacies of Bosnain culture like Ivan Lovrenovic does. Simply, one of the best books you can read about often misunderstood Bosnia.

Out of the now almost countless array of books published over the last decade and meant to 'explain' what happened in Yugoslavia, John Allcock's "Explaining Yugoslavia" is among the best. In fact, readers need go no farther if they're looking for a one-volume analysis of the former Yugoslavia and some of the underlying reasons for the country's violent and bloody collapse. Allcock, a sociologist, analyzes historical, cultural, political, social/societal, economic and other factors and skillfully ties them together to provide a comprehensive picture of the peoples of the former Yugoslavia and reasonable answers to the question of why their common state fell apart. Allcock essentially sees the root cause for the failure of Yugoslavia in the country's economy, but this is hardly economic reductionism - he stresses the importance of the interplay of numerous other factors. If this book is not the definitive 'explanation of Yugoslavia' (something that will likely never be achieved), it is a large and important step in that direction.

Allcock traces the present of the "former Yugoslavia" back to its distant roots - and does a great job. Organised around issues (eg. "economic modernisation", "the movement of population", "violence"), his genre of historical sociology offers remarkable insights.

Oxford historian Richard Crampton praised this book as "making many Balkan backstairs intrigues, including those of the last few years, more comprehensible" (New York Review of Books, January 11, 2001, p.18). Rightly so.

This is a superb work of scholarship, putting to shame most histories of the Balkans which deal with this time period (e.g., Fine's). Curta smashes modern notions of the Slavic migrations derived mostly through (Byzantine) Roman sources, most of which are purely second hand accounts.

Curta begins with a history of the current thought on the Slavic migrations, influenced primarily by 19th century prejudices and Soviet Union "scholarship" emphasising the reigning hegemony there. He then goes on to offer a critical reading of texts, first those contemporaneous to the period under review, then the centuries immediately following. What's so important is that these readings are truly critical, as opposed to accepting or dismisive: how do these people know what they are writing? All of these texts have value, the argument goes, but they all have different value. What do these texts tell us about their authors?

Curta then reviews the archaeological evidence for the Byzantine-Roman fortifications built along the Danube. He finds Procopius' reports of these forts to be very accurate, but notes a significant absense of evidence that many were destroyed by violence; most were abandonded (and wait until you read his arguments about the coin hordes, a nerd's delight!).

Then Curta reveals the evidence for an actual Slavic culture north of the Danube. What he finds, using distributions of sites and artifacts, correspondence analyses, and cluster analyses, is a complex, well-organized and far-ranging system for the distribution of goods. His tentative conclusion is that this notion of Slav is one, while perhaps taken from a tribe somewhere along the northern border, that is projected onto a heterogeneous group of individuals that have long-ranging relationships from just east of Bavaria to east of Crimea to the Baltic seas! In short, there was no migration as such, they were always there, but had not yet formed this group identity they were given. (He does not deny raids into Byzantine-Roman territory, but who didn't raid their territory?)

What I didn't like: Curta has quite a beef with linguists and tars the entire field in his introduction. Linguists, he claims, have used spurious analyses of the Slavic lexicon to invent a purely fictional Slavic Urheimat (roughly, homeland/place of origin). While this might be true, this sort of folk etymology has little place in modern linguistics. Worse, Curta implies that he doesn't believe that Slavic languages are part of the Indo-European family! Anyone who knows a little of a Slavic language will recognize this as fantasy... Curta doesn't bother to justify his claim. It's hard to know how he would answer for this, particularly given that he doesn't seem especially up to date in linguistics.

But that's not the thrust of the book. The evidence is placed in the archaeology and a truly critical reading of the contemporaneous texts. This is a well substantiated iconoclasm that should be read by every student of European history.

The main purpose of this volume is "to explore the nature and construction of the Slavic ethnic identity in the light of the current anthropological research on ethnicity". The author proposes an innovative vision about the archaeological evidence, considering that the ethnic boundaries were marked by items of material culture (features of an "emblemic style" used by an ethnic group in order to be different). The 'ethnie' results from the interaction of groups with different emblemic styles. Significant changes in the material culture can thus show what Curta calls "the making of the Slavs": the emergence of a new ethnie. This approach is completely new from all what was written before about the Slavic ethnogenesis.
The sources about the early Slavs are classified in three categories according to the position of their authors: eyewitness, possible contact and second-hand information. The interest of the Byzantine writers was focused on the Slavs only in some periods when they were a real danger. The sources are showing that the inroads occurred when the Danubian limes was weak because the Byzantine army was involved in other wars. A major change took place in the Slavic society around 550-560: the anarchy recorded by Procopius was replaced by war operations commanded by several chiefs whose names were preserved in the further sources. The Byzantine answer to the Slavic threat was the building of three defence lines inside the eastern Balkan provinces. The migration of the Slavs south of the Danube can be dated only since the first years of Heraclius. Only after their settlement, the Byzantine sources recorded several real tribal names, replacing the Byzantine ethnic label that was the generic name Sclavenoi.
Curta examines the Byzantine Balkan region, in order to explain how the classical urbanized society turned into a ruralized one in the period of the Slavic invasions. After a detailed archaeological overview of the main cities in the Balkan provinces, the author concludes that the economic decline occurred because they were not supplied with food from the hinterland. The fortified network established by Justinian fell because the state was not able to support the permanent garrisons of the limes with the central distribution of grain; in the same time, the few number of peasants made impossible a defence based on their service. The withdraw of the Balkan troops in the early years of Heraclius was the natural result of the interruption of the annona taken from Egypt. Therefore, the economic decline and the withdraw of the army from the Danube were not caused by the Slavic invasions; both had internal reasons, remarkably emphasized by Curta.
Objects like amber beads, bow fibulae or pots with stamped decoration are items of two well-defined 'emblemic styles' developed by the Gepids and the Lombards. The ethnic identity was constructed on the basis of different types of imported objects with symbolic value bore by elite people (especially by women). The spreading of these objects in different areas matches with the territories inhabited by the Gepids and the Lombards. Aristocratic women, with their garnment, played the main role in the establishment and the transmission of the emblemic style and, as a consequence, of the ethnic identity (they were "symbolic vehicles for the construction of social identities"). The need to emphasize the emblemic style increased in periods of instability and competition between neighboring groups. In this way, Curta finally comes to the making of the early Slavic emblemic style. Like the Gepids or Lombards, the Slavs used specific types of pottery and bow fibulae to construct an emblemic style. This does not means that such objects were genuine Slavic products. Curta argues that the earliest specimens of the so-called "bow fibulae" were found in Mazuria and in Crimea. Their diffusion does not show migrations, but another kind of mobility: "gifts or women married to distant groups in forging alliances" and their function was to express a kind of heraldry displayed on the female dressing. The bow fibulae became a part of the Slavic emblemic style shortly before 600, in the same time with a wider change in the material culture which took place during the climax of the raiding activity of the Slavic rulers.
The individual houses were settled according to a pattern that implied specialized sectors for production or for ceremonies involving food consumption. Food was prepared in ceramic pots, whose shape was determined only by practical reasons. Curta points that the pottery shapes "should be interpreted in relation to food preparation, not to emblemic style". Hundreds of hand-made and wheel-made ceramic vessels belong to the same set of shapes. The pots from the sites ascribed to the Slavs have similar shapes with pieces from Gepidic cemeteries and from Danubian early Byzantine fortresses. If so, the 'Prague type', which was defined as the genuine Slavic pottery, is an artificial construct of the archaeologists.
The Lower Danubian settlements are earlier than those from the Zhitomir area (the chronology was established with the aid of the metallic objects, including coins). This contradicts the usual theory of the Slavic migration. In this way, Curta comes to one of his main conclusions: "it appears that instead of a 'Slavic culture' originating in a homeland and then spreading to surrounding areas, we should envisage a much broader area of common economic and cultural traditions". This means that large migrations should be replaced with short-distance movements caused by the itinerant agriculture. The population from this wide area became Slavic because acquired an identity during the second half of the 6th century. This identity was expressed through a specific emblemic style defined by bow-fibulae and pottery decorated with finger impressions.
The final chapter deals with the political organization of the early Slavs. Curta applies the anthropological theories on chiefdom, distinguishing between great-men (warriors), big-men (rich men with authority inside their community), and chiefs (rulers of organized polities with control over a group of subjects). The Slavs evolved during the 6th century from a "segmentary society" (lack of hierarchy) to a society ruled by chiefs who fought between them. The emergence of the political organization was the result of the contacts with the Byzantine state. By this military elite the Slavs came into being as a new ethnicity.
The book written by Florin Curta will be a turning point both for the Byzantine and the Slavic studies.

...this is an excellent book. It is a must read for all those people who care about what actually goes on in the world. Although some articles are quite long, they are interesting and are great at showing how we have been misled by the media. How many people who have not read this book honestly knew that the "dictator" Milosevic doesn't even have a majority in parliament? Also great at showing how we don't think about things, such as how will bombing people help them? Or did the U.S. really intervene for humanitarian reasons, and if so why haven't we invaded Turkey?

Involved in children humanitarian help during the Bosnian War and despite knowing the Western media bias, reading this book was an eye-opener. It showed all the interests of major powers in the region and explained the rational beyond the wars (Bosnia, Kosovo). Combined with Brzezinsky's 'The Great Game' title of the books could read: Realpolitik, theory and practice. A must read for anyone wanting to understand South-Eastern Europe and Middle East politics today.

This publication is first and the only one that provides informations about most of amber finds in west and central Balkans. This book presenting finds from Princely graves from Balkan peninsula, but its value is not just about that. Princely graves is phenomenon that occupy not Balkans only, but large parts of Europe. That's why is so important for all european archaeologist interested in Iron Age. The book is very helpfull for archaeology students, because it provides a lot of information about material culture and social processes in Iron Age.

This publication is first and the only one that include the most of amber finds in west and central Balkans. The book is very helpfull for archaeology students and archaeologists who are interested in Iron Age. This paper is not about Balkans only. Amber finds are part of Princely graves inventory. Princely graves aro not ocuppiying just Balkans, but great part of Europe (from Ukraine to Britain).That's why is this book so important for all european archaeologists intrested in european Iron Age.

This is a true masterpiece of Baroque epic poetry. I have been privileged to read the poem in its original language, and i was struck by the poet's mastery of the form, rhythm and language. I can only reccomend this work to your personal library.

This is a great poem, full of deep and poetic writing...It could be reminiscent of some Italian renaissance poetry, but this is a special thing. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in poetry, and this is a work little known outside the Balkans and Southern Europe

The authors argue passionately against NATO's military intervention in the former Yugoslavia. They show convincingly that intervention is just a cover for the selfish interests of the NATO powers, and that it will delay, not promote, a durable peace. They also oppose what they rightly call the inhuman economic sanctions that the UN imposed on the people of Serbia and Montenegro.

Now 60,000 NATO troops, including 15,000 British, are going in, supposedly to enforce a cease﷓fire in Bosnia. The authors demolish the arguments of those who call on outside powers to intervene for humanitarian or other reasons. We should recall that the 1918-1922 war of intervention against the Soviet Union started 'to police the armistice'. A Labour Government sent troops into northern Ireland in 1969 on a humanitarian pretext. Now we are at last seeing peace again there, ending that unjust interference and occupation, and we do not want another long-term foreign aggression to start.

The authors judge that "While publicly claiming humanitarian concern, each of the imperialist powers is in reality seeking to advance its own economic, political, and strategic military interests, which conflict in an increasingly sharp way during a period of world capitalist depression." (p. 11) The Western capitalist powers aim to reduce Eastern Europe's countries again to semi-colonies. The US Government wants "to block its imperialist rivals in Europe from getting a firmer economic foothold in the former Yugoslavia." (p. 62) The member states of the European Union, while pretending to have a common policy, pursue their own interests, in Yugoslavia as elsewhere.

The NATO forces will not be holding the ring but rigging the fight. Everyone knows that the USA armed and trained the Croat and Bosnian Muslim armed forces. Remember that the USA, while supposedly bringing democracy to Haiti, was funding death squads that killed hundreds of supporters of the elected government (Guardian, 4 December 1995). If the USA wants peace in Bosnia, why lift the arms ban? As the authors sum up, intervention will probably bring "more deaths, destruction, denial of national sovereignty, and brutal economic exploitation." (p. 18). It also risks spreading the war to other countries in Eastern Europe.

The war in Yugoslavia arose originally from conditions of worsening capitalist decline. The government there cut back on planned cooperation and relied increasingly on market forces. These created competition between regions and enterprises, and deepened regional inequalities, increasing pressures towards devolution and breakup. The government imported goods that Yugoslavs could have produced themselves, running up huge debts and increasing unemployment. Outside forces seized on these internal failings.

The people of Yugoslavia can solve their own problems, by taking the responsibility for rebuilding their country. As an independent socialist country, Yugoslavia enabled its people to live together. They must learn to live together again, a process in which outside forces can play no part.

"What are the roots of the carnage and the developing European war in wake of the collapse of Yugoslavia?

"The answer is not 'age-old ethnic and religious conflicts,' as the daily papers and TV newscasts say. What's happening in Yugoslavia is a product of the crisis and intensifying conflicts of the depression-ridden world capitalist system.

"Rival gangs of would-be capitalists--fragments of the former Yugoslav Stalinist regime--drape themselves in nationalist colors in a war for territory and resources that is against the interests of all working people in Yugoslavia. Washington and its competitors in Europe are intervening militarily to protect and advance their respective interests.

"The articles collected in this book tell the truth about Yugoslavia and why working people the world over should oppose military intervention" (from the back cover).

What's most frightening about this book is that ever so often I had the impression that I was reading about the present-day situation on the Balkan. Yes, the old dynasties were swept away in the aftermath of WWI, so the names have changed, but the peoples on the Balkan peninsula are still the playthings of international capital and its henchmen in the parliaments. Unfortunately most modern reporters either hardly know how to formulate a correct phrase or have no clue about the social and economic background of the situation they write about. L.D. Trotsky, on the other hand, combined a keen eye for the complex intersection of economy, politics and religion with an expressive style. Not to forget his vitriolic humour. (And yes, I loved his snide remark about Austrian tardiness - verrry true!;-)) Despite the intricacy of the issues, these reports are easily readable.

Trotsky's war correspondence from the Balkan Wars that just preceded World War I is more than a fascinating collection of journalism by a dramatic and passionate figure in modern history. It is also an indispensable backgrounder for the fighting going on in the region today. Much of Trotsky's reportage, e.g. on Serbian attempts to reduce the Albanian population of Kosova by mass murder, will echo very loudly. To his credit, Trotsky sided whole-heartedly with the Albanian victims, in a way that shames the modern defenders of media neutrality and global passivity in the face of ethnic terrorism. The beginning of all wisdom on the modern Balkan wars.

Anyone that wants to understand about Albania and Albanian politics in the Balkans should read this book. This book is very insightful and provides information that will develop ones understanding of Albania, its history, and politics. For those that are also seeking a clearer understanding of the Kosovo conflict will also find this book to be rewarding. This book is written by an Albanian. Elez Biberaj has written extensively on Albanian politics and this book is just one more literary gem that takes you a step further in the understanding of Albania and her scattered kin. Highly recommended!

Balancing in the Balkans provides an in-depth analysis into the different factors surrounding recent historical events in the Balkans. It serves as brilliant source material for the area as well as for political science theories like coerceive diplomacy, et al. Especially timely considering recent occurrences in the area. Reccomended for anyone interested in current events and international relations.