Author: George EastPublisher:
ISBN: 9781908747433
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Balkan Ghosts
Author: Robert D. KaplanPublisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466868309
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 439
Book Description
A new edition of the classic travelogue exploring the Balkan Peninsula’s political, social, religious, and economic past. From the assassination that triggered World War I to the ethnic warfare in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia, the Balkans have been the crucible of the twentieth century, the place where terrorism and genocide first became tools of policy. Chosen as one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Times, and greeted with critical acclaim as “the most insightful and timely work on the Balkans to date” (Boston Globe), Kaplan’s prescient, enthralling, and often chilling political travelogue is already a modern classic. This new edition of Balkan Ghosts includes six opinion pieces written by Robert Kaplan about the Balkans between 1996 and 2000, beginning just after the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and ending after the conclusion of the Kosovo war, with the removal of Slobodan Milosevic from power. Praise for Balkan Ghosts “The product of over a decade of travel and research, this is one of precious few works that allows a Western reader a look into the tortured soul of the Balkan peoples. . . . A superior narrative. . . . Kaplan is a master of this genre.” —Library Journal “A memorable portrait of an increasingly important region.” —Kirkus Review
The Tiger's Wife
Author: Téa ObrehtPublisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679604367
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • The instant classic debut novel from the author of Inland and The Morningside, hailed as “a thrilling beginning to what will certainly be a great literary career” (Elle) “Spectacular . . . [Téa Obreht] spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerized reader wants her never to stop.”—Entertainment Weekly “Not since Zadie Smith has a young writer arrived with such power and grace.”—Time ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times; Entertainment Weekly; The Christian Science Monitor; The Kansas City Star; Library Journal In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. Searching for clues, she turns to his worn copy of The Jungle Book and the stories he told her of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man.” But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her—the legend of the tiger’s wife. Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht, hailed by Colum McCann as “the most thrilling literary discovery in years,” has spun a timeless novel that will establish her as one of the most vibrant, original authors of her generation. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, O: The Oprah Magazine, The Economist, Vogue, Slate, Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Times, Dayton Daily News, Publishers Weekly, Alan Cheuse, NPR’s All Things Considered
Travels in Blood and Honey
Author: Elizabeth GowingPublisher:
ISBN: 9781904955900
Category : Bee culture
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Kosovo: the name conjures up blood: ethnic cleansing and war. This book reveals another side to the newest country in the world a land of generous families, strong tastes and lush landscapes: a land of honey. Elizabeth Gowing is rushed to Kosovo, on a blind date with the place, when her partner is suddenly offered the position of adviser to Prime Minister Agim ?eku. Knowing nothing of the language or politics, she is thrown into a world of unpronounceable nouns, unfamiliar foods and bewilderingly hospitable people. On her first birthday in Kosovo she is given a beehive as a gift, and starts on a beekeeping apprenticeship with an unknown family; through their friendship and history she begins to understand her new home. Her apprenticeship leads her to other beekeepers too: retired guerrilla fighters, victims of human trafficking, political activists, a women's beekeeping group who teach her how to dance, and the Prime Minister himself. She dons a beekeeper's veil, sees the bees safely through winter, manages to use a smoker, learns about wicker skeps, gets stung, harvests her honey and drizzles it over everything. In between, she starts working at Pristina s forgotten Ethnological Museum, runs a project in a restored stone house below the Accursed Mountains and falls in love with a country she had known only as a war.
Western Intervention in the Balkans
Author: Roger D. PetersenPublisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139503308
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 351
Book Description
Conflicts involve powerful experiences. The residue of these experiences is captured by the concept and language of emotion. Indiscriminate killing creates fear; targeted violence produces anger and a desire for vengeance; political status reversals spawn resentment; cultural prejudices sustain ethnic contempt. These emotions can become resources for political entrepreneurs. A broad range of Western interventions are based on a view of human nature as narrowly rational. Correspondingly, intervention policy generally aims to alter material incentives ('sticks and carrots') to influence behavior. In response, poorer and weaker actors who wish to block or change this Western implemented 'game' use emotions as resources. This book examines the strategic use of emotion in the conflicts and interventions occurring in the Western Balkans over a twenty-year period. The book concentrates on the conflicts among Albanian and Slavic populations (Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, South Serbia), along with some comparisons to Bosnia.
World of Wanderlust
Author: Brooke BellamyPublisher: Penguin Group Australia
ISBN: 176014343X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 315
Book Description
What are the world’s greatest destinations? Where are the best places to travel solo? From airport fashion to road trip rules, professional traveller Brooke Saward shows us where to go, what to do and how to get that holiday feeling without even leaving home. Full of beautiful photographs that will ignite the imagination and featuring enduring favourites like Paris, New York, and London, this is the book that will inspire you to make every day an adventure.
The Peaks of the Balkans Trail
Author: Rudolf AbrahamPublisher: Cicerone Press Limited
ISBN: 1783625562
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
A guidebook to trekking the Peaks of the Balkans Trail. Passing through Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro, the 183km circular route can be completed in around a fortnight. The walking itself is not difficult, although the route passes through some remote areas and demands a moderate level of fitness. The route is presented anti-clockwise from Theth (Albania) in 10 stages of between 10 and 28km. Also included are a handful of optional detours to climb neighbouring peaks and visit local sites of interest. 1:50,000 mapping and elevation profile provided for each stage Everything you need to plan a successful trip: how to get to the route, when to go, what to take, and information on cross-border permits Accommodation listings included Geology, history, plants and wildlife Language notes and glossary
Europe's Last Summer
Author: David FromkinPublisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307425789
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Book Description
When war broke out in Europe in 1914, it surprised a European population enjoying the most beautiful summer in memory. For nearly a century since, historians have debated the causes of the war. Some have cited the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; others have concluded it was unavoidable. In Europe’s Last Summer, David Fromkin provides a different answer: hostilities were commenced deliberately. In a riveting re-creation of the run-up to war, Fromkin shows how German generals, seeing war as inevitable, manipulated events to precipitate a conflict waged on their own terms. Moving deftly between diplomats, generals, and rulers across Europe, he makes the complex diplomatic negotiations accessible and immediate. Examining the actions of individuals amid larger historical forces, this is a gripping historical narrative and a dramatic reassessment of a key moment in the twentieth-century.
Balkan Popular Culture and the Ottoman Ecumene
Author: Donna A. BuchananPublisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810866773
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 462
Book Description
Since the early twentieth century, 'balkanization' has signified the often militant fracturing of territories, states, or groups along ethnic, religious, and linguistic divides. Yet the remarkable similarities found among contemporary Balkan popular music reveal the region as the site of a thriving creative dialogue and interchange. The eclectic interweaving of stylistic features evidenced by Albanian commercial folk music, Anatolian pop, Bosnian sevdah-rock, Bulgarian pop-folk, Greek ethniki mousike, Romanian muzica orientala, Serbian turbo folk, and Turkish arabesk, to name a few, points to an emergent regional popular culture circuit extending from southeastern Europe through Greece and Turkey. While this circuit is predicated upon older cultural confluences from a shared Ottoman heritage, it also has taken shape in active counterpoint with a variety of regional political discourses. Containing eleven ethnographic case studies, Balkan Popular Culture and the Ottoman Ecumene: Music, Image, and Regional Political Discourse examines the interplay between the musicians and popular music styles of the Balkan states during the late 1990s. These case studies, each written by an established regional expert, encompass a geographical scope that includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, and Montenegro. The book is accompanied by a VCD that contains a photo gallery, sound files, and music video excerpts.
Balkan Genocides
Author: Paul MojzesPublisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442206632
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317
Book Description
During the twentieth century, the Balkan Peninsula was affected by three major waves of genocides and ethnic cleansings, some of which are still being denied today. In Balkan Genocides Paul Mojzes provides a balanced and detailed account of these events, placing them in their proper historical context and debunking the common misrepresentations and misunderstandings of the genocides themselves. A native of Yugoslavia, Mojzes offers new insights into the Balkan genocides, including a look at the unique role of ethnoreligiosity in these horrific events and a characterization of the first and second Balkan wars as mutual genocides. Mojzes also looks to the region's future, discussing the ongoing trials at the International Criminal Tribunal in Yugoslavia and the prospects for dealing with the lingering issues between Balkan nations and different religions. Balkan Genocides attempts to end the vicious cycle of revenge which has fueled such horrors in the past century by analyzing the terrible events and how they came to pass.
