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

Mr. Glenny sets himself the task of detailing 200 years wort of hostory of the Balkan region. He succeeds wonderfully. His graceful writing manages to keep the dizzying array of people and places that figure into Balkan history interesting and highly readable. Most interestingly, Glenny argues that much of the Balkans history of ethnic strife has been--and continues to be--compounded by outside entities (The Great Powers of the title), including the Ottoman Empire, the Hapsburg Empire, Nazi Germany, and the Allies. There is much food for thought in this volume. Highly recomended for those both familiar with and new to the history of the Balkans.

This is a great book about balkans. I have met the writer in Istanbul airport while reading his book and now I have a signed version of it. The book explains all the events that took place in the Balkans in great detail and his style of writing is very understandable.

Aside from briefly studying the Yugoslav Civil War of the 1990s while in college, I didn't know much about modern Balkan history before reading this book. I recommend it to anyone who wishes to gain more insight on the current state of affairs among and within the Balkan countries.

Glenny provides a concise, readable account of Balkan histiry since the turn of the 18th century while remaining faithful to his thesis. Perhaps his background in journalism provides the intellectual discipline to avoid straying from his central argument. In any case, this approach makes reading about extremely complex events, trends and historical forces much less confusing.

However, based on his account, one gets the impression that the history of this region during this period has been largely reactive. In this respect, the book provides a somewhat limited perspective.

Misha Glenny attempts the unimaginable by trying to write a two hundred year comprehensive history of nationalism in the Balkans. Stunningly, his work is a tremedous success of epic proportions. His basic thesis is that the problems in the Balkans are not a result of the ignorance or war like nature of the Balkan people as many suggest but rather a result of the carelessness of Imperialism and the great powers.
Glenny's evidence is primarily drawn from the events leading up to and including WWI. Here lies the great strenght of the work. Glenny gives an in depth and accurate evaluation of the reasons for imperialistic expansion and how these actions affected the Balkan peoples. The overview of WWII is equally enlightening but not quite as impressive as that of WWI.
The book does have some minor shortcomings when it comes to the communist period. The chronological that Glenny keeps so nicely in place before beginnigs to break down. In addition, some areas lack in depth review. Most notalbly, there is very little of Bulgarian Strongman Todor Zhivkov. Most disappointing is dearth of information on the Bosinan War of 1992-5 and the war in Kosovo. It probably goes a little beyond the scope of the work which is primarily a backgroung to this situation. At 660 pages you cannot complain too much that he decided to end it but it does leave you wanting a little more.
Glenny was a correspondent for the BBC which makes the book a lot more accessible than most of the pedantic works put out by academia. His writing is entertaining enough with just enough anecdotes to keep the reader focused. Sometimes he feels the need to share his own personel views, like his opposition to the death penalty. (there is a slight European bias but nothing to be concern the average reader.) The work is comprehensive and easily the best read you will find on Balkan nationalism in general.

Having done a considerable amount of reading and reasrch on the Balkans, I have discovered that this history is very much debated and often subjectively interpreted. It is necessary to take into account the author of any work on this subject and to understand what their relationship to the subject is. This is true in any scholarly work but in the history of the Balkans it is particularly vital. I personally consider this an authority. It is what I turn to when I come across discrepancies in other texts. It is an easy and comprehensive read and I think a must-have for any individual interested in understanding the Balkans and/or Eastern European history.