Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (3)

A must read for anyone interested in Balkan history/politics
Noel Malcolm calls it fantastic - this should be enough of a reason for anyone who has interest in Balkan history and politics to read this book. Well researched, balanced but witty and with a tat of the usual Western cynical eye describing Balkan events, people or politics. I doubt there is a more well researched book ever written, in any language, on King Zog and the period of the Albanian Monarchy.

King Bird the First
In hindsight, it was probably inevitable that King Zog of Albania would be driven from his throne in 1939. A British diplomat who worked with Zog found him amusing, but believed the King would probably end up assassinated. The conditions in Albania made that a very likely fate. It is a time and place well described in this groundbreaking biography of King Zog written by Jason Tomes.
Fascinating, well-written
Obscure subject, but a wonderful book -- thorough, well-researched, and well-written.If you're a history buff, this is a must-read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1895-1961    2. Albania    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Eastern Europe - General    8. Historical - General    9. King of the Albanians,    10. Kings and rulers    11. Nationalism    12. Presidents & Heads of State    13. Royalty    14. Zog    15. ALBANIA_HISTORY    16. Biography & Autobiography / Royalty   

Editorial Review

Tim Judah lived in Belgrade from 1990 to 1995, reporting for the London Read more

Reviews (8)

Judah beats authors to the punch year after war
Overall, this is a much better book than Judah's previous work, Serbs.It appeared hardly a year after the conflict in Kosovo, and with the wealth of material that has appeared about Serbia, Kosovo, and Milosevic, it is slightly dated in its tone, though the many quotes and accounts of the happenings on the ground are valuable. Excellent coverage of Kosovo's recent history
When fighting in Kosovo began breaking out and hitting news tabloids in mid-1998, the problem was that few people knew about this region's history, let alone its location on the globe. No one could quite understand the motives of Serbs and Albanians, who were at odds with each other. When NATO began bombing rump Yugoslavia for its conduct against Kosovo Albanian civilians, uncritical (and heavily biased) media reports and press coverage were the only source of information that one could turn to for background. While this may have been better than nothing, this information was far from providing a critical and satisfactory explanation and understanding. This was the case, until Tim Judah wrote his second book, the current one now under review. Six stars out of five
No matter how much graphic TV footage we saw and how many acres of newsprint we read on the Kosovo crisis, nothing gave us enough information about what was really going on. As with any war situation, information was often unavoidably contradictory and confused, tainted with propaganda. Politicians and historians and revisionists will probably mull over the recent events in Kosovo for years before presenting their views. Read more

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Europe - General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Middle East - General    7. Albania    8. Civil war    9. Ethnic studies    10. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    11. History / Middle East    12. Serbia    13. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia    14. c 1990 to c 2000   

Features

• Box set

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Eastern Europe - General    3. Europe - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Modern - 20th Century    8. Albania    9. European history: from c 1900 -    10. History / Modern / 20th Century   

Reviews (1)

A drink of water in a parched landscape
This is a phenomenal resource.It is the first attempt, that I know of at least, to try and catalogue the mythology of a culture that at worst was a contemporary of the ancient Greeks.I'll be honest and say that I'm biased in regards to anything Albanian (I'm from Kosova) but I got a huge kick out of this.I flipped through with my mother and was able to find entries for monsters and tales she had told me while I was growing up codified by genuine certified academic types! Read more

Subjects:  1. Albania    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Dictionaries    4. Europe - General    5. Folklore    6. Folklore & Mythology    7. General    8. Mythology    9. Reference    10. Religion    11. Religious life and customs    12. Social life and customs    13. Sociology    14. Cultural studies    15. Customs & folklore    16. History of religion    17. Myths & mythology    18. Reference works   

Reviews (1)

An Albania lover's delight
I have always been fascinated with Albania. With lots of other things on my plate nowadays I haven't really had the time to read many books about this little country on the Adriatic. Once part of the Ottoman Empire, Albania declared its independence in 1912 only to find itself immediately beset by Greek, Montenegrin, and Serbian soldiers who all wanted a slice of the country for their own purposes. The total collapse of the Sublime Porte left Albanians scrambling for support from the Western European powers, but a majority Muslim population (a relic of Ottoman occupation) left many European leaders wary of supporting Albanian claims. Otto Von Bismarck sneeringly referred to Albania as a mere "geographic expression," and other powers seemed to implicitly support this view. World War I led to more troubles, more border partitions, and more problems with Balkan neighbors. The interwar period saw Albania experiment with western style government and monarchy under the leadership of Fan Noli and Ahmed Zogu, respectively. The Italians occupied the country in the late 1930s, leading to King Zog's ouster and clandestine warfare between Albania, Italy, and Germany. As the war ended, Enver Hoxha and his communist partisan forces triumphed over other Albanian liberation factions and took over the country. What followed was nearly fifty years of brutal Stalinist style communism. Today, Albania is working hard at restructuring their country.Read more

Subjects:  1. Albania    2. Europe - Baltic States    3. Historiography    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Myth    8. Nationalism    9. Political    10. Politics and government   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Civil War, 1998-1999    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. History    6. Individual Photographer    7. KFOR (Organization)    8. Kosovo (Serbia)    9. Photo Techniques    10. Photoessays & Documentaries    11. Photography    12. Pictorial works    13. Social conditions    14. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Europe    15. Albania    16. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Individual photographers    18. Other warfare & defence issues    19. Photographic reportage    20. Photography / Individual Photographer    21. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Anthropology - General    3. Epirus (Greece and Albania)    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. Greece    6. Greeks    7. History    8. Hybridity (Social sciences)    9. Marginality, Social    10. Minority Studies - General    11. Pogoni (Greece : Region)    12. Pogoni Region    13. Påogåoni Region    14. Social Science    15. Social conditions    16. Sociology    17. Albania    18. Anthropology    19. Social & cultural anthropology    20. Social Science / Anthropology / General    21. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (7)

Vintage travel writing at its most fascinating
This is a fascinating first-hand exploration of one of the least travelled lands in the Balkan regions.Ironically, it was actually more accessible to travellers in 1909 than for most of the 20th century.Full of amazing tidbits:Albanians counted kinship through their male line to the remote past, but the sister of one's mother was "some sort of relation."Ms. Durham (who must have had the soul of David Livingstone) stayed with Albanians who refused to believe that nights in summer were shorter than in winter.Albanian men were constantly "in blood" with other tribes because they had killed to "cleanse their honor" to a degree that the Hatfield/McCoy feud seems like a happy band of brothers in comparison.Top-notch first-hand vintage travel:Recommended.

A very enjoyable read
Edith Durham was a remarkable British woman which after an illness that caused her depression. Her doctor recommended that she changes the place where she lives and she did. She sailed to Balkans and it was then when her lifelong involvement with the people of Balkans began. A glimpse into antiquity
A good book is capable of opening your eyes to a whole new reality, Ms. Durham does that here.An Italian historian once wrote that the Albanian territories were across the Adriatic Sea yet less known than darkest Africa, this is a valiant effort to remedy that.Ms. Durham ventures, illegaly, into northern "High" Albania with an intrepid curiosity and through Western eyes proceeds to open up the vast horizons of Albanian culture.Imagine a society so isolated by the Alps and suspiscion of outsiders that they still have a ready grasp on pre-Christian traditions and myth.Read this and learn of the highland clans, the "besa", the rights of blood and honour that decimated entire generations of males and oh so much more.Read more

Subjects:  1. (Mary Edith),    2. 1863-1944    3. Albania    4. Description and travel    5. Durham, M. E.    6. Essays & Travelogues    7. Europe - Eastern    8. General    9. History    10. Military    11. Military - General    12. Social life and customs    13. Travel    14. Travel - General    15. Biography & Autobiography / General    16. Classic travel writing    17. Durham, M. E    18. Europe    19. Journeys    20. RELIGION - EASTRN RELIGN TRD PB   

Reviews (4)

A thorough history on an ignored land
Albania's history is rich and Miranda Vickers has done an excellent job of documenting it. Great Survey on Albania
Miranda Vickers's "The Albanians," is one of three novels written by Vickers about the Balkan region, specifically Albania and Kosovo. I first read this book about four years ago for a class on East European history and politics. While the class wasn't that good, I did enjoy reading about Albania. The book fed an interest I've had about Albania since I first heard Radio Tirana on my shortwave radio years ago. Albania is a forgotten land, only newsworthy when a new ethnic conflict flares up in the region or when the country descends into anarchy, as it did in 1997. This edition is an updated version, covering events up into the late 1990's. Learn why the U. S. needs to be involved in the Balkans
Now that the United States has committed large numbers of ground troops to keep the peace in Bosnia and Kosova,it is important that her citizens learn about these areas. The history of the Balkans is typical of that where cultures have met and fought over the territory for centuries. It is the area where the three religions of Islam, Orthodox Christian and Catholicism share a common border with enclaves of each embedded in the other. Nearly all of the borders in that area of the world are artificial, political creations that do not reflect the ethnic and religious composition of the regions. This has led to centuries of hostility, which occasionally explodes into mass killing.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Albania    7. European history: from c 1900 -    8. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Reviews (6)

Excellent
The book has it all. It should a koran or bible for every Albanian and I would urge everyone one to own a copy or at least read it. It is very carefully written and greatly researched, based on classical and contemporary sources of history, archeaology and linguistics. It is also extremely helpful in providing other research sources for related fields or works. Above all, it is true in content and as such unbiased.

Excellent!
The book is a classic for presenting history based on facts. Many thanks to the author for putting such a bright light on historical facts, and the effort to collect all the information pieces that exist around the world and putting them in a fascinating logical way that creates a nice picture of what have happened thousands of years before, mainly in the ballkans, particulary in today's Albania, and all over the world.
Perhaps the best reference
The author brings the science of history to a new paradigm. The book is written in an excellent way and is result of intensive and extensive experience from the author. He will keep receiving many thanks for his research and publishing work. The book confirms that History is a scientific field and not a dogmatic field. The book must be read by all. The book helps to find answers questions. Reading the book, one can crystally see that the Pelasgian language is the same as the present-day Albanian language. Moreover, it tells what brush paintings had been put on Pelasgian (Albanian) culture and language. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Albania    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Europe - Baltic States    5. General    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. World - General    10. Eastern Europe    11. Ethnography    12. World history   

Subjects:  1. 20th Century Architecture    2. 20th century    3. Architecture    4. Architecture Of Specific Structures    5. Architecture, Modern    6. Criticism    7. History - General    8. Middle East - Egypt    9. Religious Buildings    10. Albania    11. Albanien    12. Algeria    13. Algerien    14. Andorra    15. Architecture / General    16. Architektur    17. Architekturgeschichte    18. Archtitectural History    19. Bildband    20. Bosnia Herzegovina    21. Bosnien    22. Croatia    23. Egypt    24. France    25. Frankreich    26. Greece    27. Griechenland   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (23)

ethnocentric extraordinaire
Mr. Carver moves around Albania with the fear and distance typical of many western reporters who are uninterested in making a committment to understanding the local perspective. His western template is the perspective from which he sees and interprets the Albanians.In this sense, Mr. Carver's sense, they are a very bizzare people. The worst book ever written for Albania
I guess the author of this book has visited Albanian mountains only form the helicopter windows.... they are beautiful and wild of course but the way you can see the Albanian tradition and the culture is not only the negative side. This Accursed Book
The first time I visited Albania there were no guidebooks available. I read some history books, but the most recent one available then was published in 1978.

Subjects:  1. Essays & Travelogues    2. Europe - Baltic States    3. Europe - Eastern    4. Travel    5. Travel - General    6. ALBANIA    7. Eastern Europe    8. History / Europe / Eastern    9. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Albania    6. European history: from c 1900 -    7. First World War, 1914-1918    8. History / Europe / Eastern    9. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    10. c 1900 - c 1914   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe    2. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    3. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    4. Social history   

Subjects:  1. Alphabet    2. Balkan Peninsula    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Grammar    5. Grammar, Comparative    6. Language    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Languages    9. Linguistics    10. Miscellaneous    11. Syntax    12. Albanian    13. Bulgarian    14. Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure    15. Historical & comparative linguistics    16. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    17. Linguistics | Syntax & Morphology    18. Modern Greek    19. Romanian    20. Southeast Europe   

Subjects:  1. 1990-    2. 20th century    3. Albania    4. Anthropology - General    5. Archaeology / Anthropology    6. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    7. Economic conditions    8. History    9. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    10. Political Science    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Social conditions    13. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    14. Social institutions   

Subjects:  1. 318-272 B.C    2. Biography    3. Epirus (Greece and Albania)    4. History    5. King of Epirus,    6. Kings and rulers    7. Pyrrhus,    8. Pyrrhus   

Subjects:  1. History / Europe / General    2. Illyrian letters,correspondence,Illyrian provinces,Bosnia,Herzegovina,Montenegro,Albania,Dalmatia,Croatia,Slavonia,Arthur John,Evans   

Subjects:  1. Albania    2. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    3. Turkey   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. History - General History    5. Military    6. Albania    7. Biography: general    8. European history: from c 1900 -    9. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    10. Second World War, 1939-1945    11. c 1945 to c 1960