History books about Croatia

Over the coming weeks we will be uploading more book reviews.....

Title: The Southern Borders of Dalmatia Editors: Stijepo Obad, Serđo Dokoza, Suzana Martinović Publisher: State Archives of Zadar, 2005 112pp large format A fascinating collection of historcial maps (many previously unpublished) that are stored in the State Archives of Zadar. The maps chosen are taken from the 15th, 17th centuries and the period after the break-up of Yugoslavia. They detail the most southerly region of Dalmatia and the Golf of Kotor and Montenegro borders, of the Venetian, Austrian the Ottoman periods. The maps have been beautifully reproduced with precise detailed texts and are an excellent addition to any research or educational purposes of the area. This is a second edition of the book - reprinted due to international and popular demand and for the first time in English. MM

Title: A Short History of the City of Rijeka Author: Igor Žic Publisher: Adamić d.o.o. 192pp, 2007 ISBN: 978532193428 A recently translated version of a popular condensed history of Croatia's third largest city. Detailing the city's rise and falls through political chaos to the terrors of war to luxury and decadence and poverty and depression. Focusing on the names, reasons and movements which have (re)shaped the city. From ten years of research comes an easy to read, concise, excellently translated introduction for anyone wishing to dig deeper. Some interesting period B/W photographs also help set the times. MM

Title: History in Exile: Memory and Identity at the Borders of the Balkans Author: Pamela Ballinger Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2002 ISBN: 0691086974 ISBN: 978-0691086972 Based on fieldwork conducted in Trieste and Rovinj, this book examines the lives and identities of Italians and their families who were exiled after the state borders were re-drawn at the end of the Second World War. Its principle focus is on the narratives surrounding this exile, on both sides of the state borders and the relationship between these narratives. Although this is a book that is intended for an anthropological audience, and is thus written in scholarly language that concentrates on themes that are primarily of interest to anthropologists, it would perhaps be interesting for anyone who is living in Istria, or wants to learn more about Istria. SC

Title: The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers, 1804-1999 Author: Misha Glenny Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics), 752pp, 2001 ISBN: 0140233776 ISBN: 978-0140233773 This large tome sets out to provide an account of the history of the Balkans, and through offering this account wants to explain the causes of the wars in the 1990’s. Starting from an alternative position to one that was frequently voiced in the 1990’s, that the ‘people’ of the Balkans are innately bloodthirsty, this book explores the role of the Great Powers in the Balkans. By doing so, this narrative of two hundred years of the history of the Balkans focuses on a very specific thread– that of the role of the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires, the Allies and the Nazis in making the region as it is today. Therefore it is an account that does not examine the lives of ‘ordinary’ people living in the region, but rather is analysis of the activities of those who were in power at the time. SC

Title: Heritage of Rab Author: Ivo Barić Publisher: Adamić d.o.o. 398pp, 2007 ISBN: - This book would be interesting for anyone who wants to know more about the island of Rab, but it is perhaps particularly interesting for people who have ancestors on the island since it looks closely at the history of family names on the island. Asides from an account of family names, it also describes the geography of the island, the island’s cultural monuments, significant figures from Rab and offers a detailed history that starts from the time when the Liburnians were on the island and finishes at the Second World War. SC

Title: Rijeka and the Rijeka Region in Old English Travel Books Author: Veselin Kostić Publisher: Adamić d.o.o, Rijeka, 2006 ISBN: 953-219-294-8 This book, written in English and Croatian, explores the writings of British travellers who visited the Rijeka area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Inside, one has a lively account of the experiences of those who came to ‘explore’ this part of Europe. My own personal favourite is the one about George Grieg who was robbed in Gorski Kotar, and then went to recuperate with the then owner of the Paper Factory. The value of this book for anyone interested in the Rijeka area is that since it offers a more personal account of the scrapes and adventures of the authors, one gets an insight into everyday life in the Rijeka that is perhaps not so visible in more ‘official’ history books. Also, as it says in the foreword, it provides as much of an insight into the characters of those who were doing the travelling as it does about the Rijeka area in this period. Thus, it would also appeal to anyone who is interested in finding more about how the British considered this part of the world at the end of the 18th and 19th centuries. SC

Title: The Practical Guide to Croatia's Archaeological Sites Author: Ante Šušnjara Publisher: Ante Šušnjara, 222pp, 2008 ISBN: 978-953-55077-0-3 www.croatia-archaeology.com A great introduction to the many sites (those researched and many which are untouched) of the country. It has been compiled from many original sources with the help of the Roman 'road map' - the Tabula Peutingeriana as a basis to list locations (both with modern and antique names) by the author. This is superb one man publication, translated by the author into English, plotting each region of the country listing each of the sites with drawings, concise directions and the finds and stories associated with them. His passion for archaeology is obvious when you start to read about the locations and especially when evidence points to sites yet to be explored such one area around Požega where aerial photographs have revealed the possible ruins of a Roman ampitheatre!.... Now, where are my shovel and wellies? MM