Volume 48, Number 1 · January 11, 2001
Myths of the Balkans
By Richard Crampton
The Balkans: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, 1804–1999
by Misha Glenny
Viking, 726 pp., $34.95
Explaining Yugoslavia
by John B. Allcock
Columbia University Press,499 pp., $30.00
The Balkans: A Short History
by Mark Mazower
Modern Library, 188 pp., $19.95
So Sir Alexander Cadogan, the senior civil servant in the British Foreign Office, confided to his diary on July 10, 1940. His successors of the 1990s cannot afford these luxuries of ignorance or neglect; the Balkans, it seems, are always with us. In the post–cold war world 'that deplorable part of the world' not only persuaded NATO to fire its first shots in anger but has, some would argue, brought about a redefinition of the nature and function of international relations. Whether the Balkans are 'deplorable' or not, no one would dispute their importance. That being so there is every need to understand them. And understanding the Balkans means trying to master their history.
Review, 5566 words
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