«A great achievement» by Timothy Garton Ash

Blood. Invasions. Nationalist zeal. In this classic and acclaimed history of the Balkans, Misha Glenny shows how the countries in the southeastern corner of Europe are perceived by the rest of the world and how the real history of the last 200 years is much more subversive. There are groups we consider implacable enemies, which, over the centuries, have formed unexpected alliances, overturning the idea that conflict in the Balkans is the inevitable product of ancient grievances. There is also the often destructive relationship between the Balkans and the rest of Europe, a dark history that raises deep questions about Western intervention.

From the region's turbulent nineteenth century to the recent fierce conflicts in Kosovo and Macedonia, the rise of organized crime, the emergence of Turkey, and the rough road to EU membership, the Balkans remain the essential and unsurpassed study of Europe's most complex and least understood region.

«An effort that deserves exceptional appreciation and currently has no rival» - Guardian

«Glenny is the wisest and most thoughtful of all Western journalists who have covered this part of Europe over the past twenty years... This was an extremely ambitious task, but it is the book that Europe and America need» - Observer

Pages: 800, Dimensions: 15x15cm