Imagining the Balkans by Maria N. Todorova

Aleksandar Hemon and the The Question of Bruno is a great take on growing up during socialism. Miljenko Jergović and his Sarajevo Marlboro is very good as well. by Slavenka Drakulić as well as her How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed. There is some excellent traditional epic poetry from all over the region if you can get your hands on it that would be an excellent historical reading as well.įor modern stuff, I would try S. Unfortunately, I don't think that his fabulous series Zastave (Banners) is available in English. From Croatia, I would suggest Miroslav Krleža and The Return of Philip Latinovicz as well as The banquet in Blitva. Ivo Andrić and his Bosnia Chronicle and The Bridge on the Drina are very good as is Meša Selimović's Death and the dervish and The Fortress. What I think you may find fascinating is some fiction written by local authors and there is a fair bit of it translated into English. Ivo Goldstein's Croatia: A history is problematic in many ways so I'd be careful reading that one, but there is some good info there. The other book I would suggest as a decent read, but with some small reservations is Marcus Tanner's Croatia: a nation forged in war. Bosnia: a short history is excellent and so is Kosovo: a short history. There are two books I would recommend without hesitation. Actually that's not what I meant - read it as a piece of travel literature, but don't read it for its historical accuracy because it is terrible and it has already caused enough damage. Now I realise how biased my reading is here - Yugoslavia rather than the rest of the Balkans (although I did have a period of reading alot of books on Albania - the best of which was Edith Durhams).Ĭan anyone enlighten me on what other classics from the region I have missed out on?Īs somebody who grew up in the area (Croatia) and worked there as a journalist and a part of a EU monitoring group in the post conflict times here are my thoughts.įolks, stop reading Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. The author had apparently tracked down the notes to some interviews which a doctor had carried out with Gavril Princep whilst he was in prison awaiting execution. I also remember browsing recently through a book about Princep, the Black Hand, and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. I think Black Lamb and Grey Falcon and Eastern Approaches are two of the best books about the region (admittedly specifically about the states making up Yugoslavia). However my favourites were all written before that particular period. I remember a flurry of books coming out at the time of the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the best of which for me were the books written by Misha Glenny.

What are the best books you have read about the Balkans?

Imagining the Balkans by Maria N. Todorova