The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers, 1804-1999

As the subtitle of his work indicated, Mischa Glenny's work concentrated on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He arranged his material chronologi-cally, with geographical subdivisions within the chunks of time. He offered narra-tive history of the various times and places, focusing almost exclusively on political and military subjects, although there are biographical sketches included occasionally. Throughout the book, Glenny drew from a wide array of primary sources.

Two themes permeate _The Balkans_. Glenny believed that the great pow-ers unduly interfered in Balkan affairs and that the majority of misery and suffer-ing which occurred there resulted either directly or indirectly from one or more of these external meddlings. He raised this idea in his introduction and he ham-mered it home in his subsequent chapters. Glenny's other principal theme was that Balkan people are nothing more nor less than individuals with their own dreams and aspirations. They are not more genetically predisposed towards racial hatred, nor ethnic biases than any other people. Glenny hoped to show that whatever problems and enmity that may exist in the Balkans can be explained in terms of recent events without resorting to "ancient hatreds". Each of these themes is a manifestation of Glenny's general premise that the West does not understand the Balkans.

I found this book to be informative of the tensions that plague the Balkans. Unlike many other commentators, Glenny does not ascribe those tensions to the "inherent nature" of the combatants. Instead, he takes great pains to show how Balkan actors have been rather dynamic in their alliances and their agendas.

In addition, Glenny uses a writing style that allows his coverage of events to coherently flow from one major incident to the next. He divides the books into numerous chapters, each based on a broad theme. He then supports each theme with historical accounts from specific Balkan nations.

Finally, Glenny does not show undue sympathy or hostility to the various actors on the Balkan stage. I think that this is vital as so many other commentators have adopted particular Balkan nations or groups as cause celebre. In my view, the latter approach has interfered with meaningful discussion of this important but troubled region.

The Balkans: Nationalism, War & The Great Powers, 1804-1999 of Misha Glenny is an excellent history book. It opens the eyes for the circumstances that stay hidden in traditional history books. The European history education is entirey focussed on Western and Southern countries, while the Balkan was extremely important in the development of Europe and the position of communism. Thanks to Misha Glenny we can take notice of this and chance our view on European history.

Drs. M.W.J. van Hout
The Netherlands

Great work by Mr Glenny. Altough it is a difficult story to tell i think the author did a very good job.I enjoyed the fact that the author stuck to the main points and discussed them with clarity and good knowledge.His account of how the Great Powers tried to solve the problems in the Balkans is excellent and very insightful as well as pragmatic since the author concedes, with reason, that we havent heard the last word of this subject. Great book for a tough subject.

I found History of the Balkans very flat as I have a interest in former Yugoslavia.Mr Glenny pasted over English created problems ie:Blieburg, he would have you believe happened as a Partisan only action against Women ,Children & Ustashe members.He should cover one Country rather than try cram the whole region into one book.