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Virtual Macedonia Bookstore - The Macedonian Conflict
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List Price: $28.95
Our Price: $18.95
Your Save: $ 10.00 ( 35% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 301
EAN: 9780691043562
ISBN: 0691043566
Label: Princeton University Press
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 290
Publication Date: 1997-03-17
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Studio: Princeton University Press
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great written piece art with a great dose of reality
Comment: Not so much to be written about this boook to review it.Simply ,
if you are into "Macedonian-greek" issue , try to read this , and you 'll have great prospective what is going on.
Greeks are acting "silly" , and "childish" nowadays , and very tyranic in the past , as the writer mentioned it many times in his work.Very sad , but true.
Titanic 5 stars!
Customer Rating:
Summary: STOP THE REVISIONIST LIES
Comment: Before I begin my review id like to point out some inaccuracies from previous reviews listed here..First, there was no Greek nation in ancient times but Greek city-states...Athens Sparta Thebes Corinth and yes Macedonia...Ive read previous reviews where the authors claim that the the Greeks revolted under Macedoanian rule which is true...Greek city states greatly valued their independence even from other Greek city states..Such is the case between Athens and Sparta when they tried to dominate each other leading to the Peloponnesian War..It is natural that they would revolt..Claiming that because the other Greek city-states revolted against Macedonia as proof of Macedonians being a non-Greek people is false!!
Id like to ask or suggest some food for thought to my FYROM readers(Former YugoSLAV Republic Of Macedonia) or disbelievers that the MAcedonians were Greek these FACTS:
1)Why is there no evidence of a non-Greek Macedonian language?
the ancient Macedonians spoke Greek and had Greek names..
2)Where is this non-Greek Macedonian culture hiding?
All ancient Macedonian artifacts are Greek
Are we suppose to believe the that the ancient Macedoanians were not Greek and then one day out of the blue they said the hell with it let's be Greek? Lets speak Greek, worship Greek gods, write in Greek, structure our conquered territory based on Greek ideas and culture, setting up gymnasiums, theater, agoras..etc.. common on people!!! No conquerer has ever conquered a country or territory and then poof in an instant forgot his roots..I once heard someone use Rome as an example regarding its conquering of the ancient Greek city states and adopting Greek culture.Id like to point out that Rome never adopted Greek as its official language. Romans never adopted Greek names ( cicero ceasar aurelias are not greek)and most of all you can clearly see a distinction between Roman literature and Greek..
3)Why did Alexander idolize Greek heroes such as Achilles, why did he keep a copy of the Illiad around as if it were his bible written by another Greek Homer..How is Aristotle his tutor Greek and Alexander isnt when they are both Macedonians?
4) Why would the ancient Greeks place the home of their gods( Zeus Athena Poseidon etc) on MT OLYMPUS which is located in ancient Macedonia??
Does it make sense for a people to place their holy sites in a foreign land??? Doesnt anyone think logically anymore?
Todays inhabitants of FYROM are a mix of Bulgarians, Albanians, Gypsies.
Slavic people arrived in the Balkans in the 6th and 7th century AD...
It is LOGICALLY incorrect for these citizens to believe they are Macedonians...They are Slavs and there is ZERO evidence of the ancient Macedonians being Slavic!!!!
Todays FYROM scholars have NO TANGIBLE EVIDENCE to claim that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek just revisionistic lies!!!!
Furthermore,FYROM's former president Kiro Gligorov in the Toronto Star on March 15, 1992 said: "Wee have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia
In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Gyordan Veselinov, Macedonia's Ambassador to Canada said: "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian" and that "there is some confusion about the identity of the people of this country."
All the FACTS listed above can be verified and researched!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: TransNationalism by Distortion of History.
Comment: History is still alive because of our interpretations and analysis. However, Academic politics are so poisonous only because there is so little at stake and this is what the author has done cunningly.
To claim that Ancient Macedonians were not part of the Hellenic civilization is beyond madness. Answering in a socratic dialogue; If the Ancient Macedonians weren't Greek, why should we consider the Ancient Spartans as Greek although they fought the most decisive battle against the persians at Thermopylae? Furthermore, if Ancient Macedonians were considered as Barbarians, why would they fight with the Greeks against the Barbian Persians and spread Hellenic ideals? Before some misinformed people of the Ancient Greek civilization say that Ancient Macedonians fought and conquered Ancient Greek city-states, this was also the case with the Ancient Spartians who fought the longest war with Ancient Athens. (Could we say that the Northern states in USA are different to Southern states cause of the American civil war in 1861-1865?) The list can go on that proves with both archeological sites and sources that the Ancient Macedonians were part of the Ancient Hellenic civilization but i would be getting off the topic. However, the author has not been able to present a single source that proves that the Ancient Macedonians spoke something other than Greek but only misinterprets the sources. Not even a coin.
Based on this assumption, that the Ancient Macedonians weren't Hellenic, the author has written this book. Unfortunately, the author has overlooked that a slavic minority appeared in the region one thousand years after Alexander the Greats death. During that time, no one must of lived there according to the author because the only evidence found was in Greek context and not slavic. Although the slavic population never adopted Hellenic ideals and customs as their kings, the author terms them the descendends of Alexander the Great!!!! Would it be correct for the Mexicans who live in America to claim that America is Mexican.
Race, religion, language, customs: these are the fundamental features that brought together the group of human beings, the community known as Greeks which, for all its internal contradictions, its civil, political and military conflicts, and the lïcal peculiarities of its constituents, composed the critical mass around common interests and vital concerns,the critical mass that brought about that civilization we call Greek.
Nowadays, everybody is a Macedonian expect the Greeks. Bulgarians claim to be Vardar Macedonians, Serbs claim to be Macedonians, Albanians claim to be Macedonians even Vlachs claim to be Macedonians. I guess Herodotus with his series Histories, Plutarch etc must of been wrong because Danforth proved them incorrect about the origin of the Macedonians.
There are several important points that the author avoids to point out. One is that the "Macedonian Nationality" was created by the communist movement (Commintern 1934 ) in Moscow and that the "Macedonian language" was created by decree in 1944 by the Yugoslav (Tito) government. Where else in the world has a nationality and language been created by a communist decree? Evidence is: what kind of language is this "Macedonian" when all the language consultants in the newspapers of Skopje, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Maceonia are Serbian?
As for the population of F.Y.R.O.M, not long ago the Carnegie Endowment for the Humanities on the causes of the Balkan wars shows that the Slavic people of FYROMacedonia are considered as 2/3 Bulgarian and 1/3 Albanian.
However, the author avoids to state, before 1944, if the "Macedonian language" was Bulgarian or Serbian? Nowadays, it is Serbian according to the Bulgarian and Albanian inhabitants of the newly established country of FYRO Macedonia.
In regards to the slavophones living in Greece, I myself am one who lives in Florina. As all migrants do in all over the world, we have adopted the Greek way of living and will defend these ideals. Unfortunately, you put me in the difficult position because of your lack of research and i have to remind you that we the slavophones in Greece fought alongside the Greeks during the Balkan Wars against Bulgaria who wanted an autonomous Macedonia under their rule. The treaty at the end of the war enabled the shifting of populations. A lot of Greeks who lived in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria had to move to Greece and a lot of Bulgarians,Yugoslavs living in Greece had to go back to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Furthermore, we fought against the(KKE)Greek Communist Party who wanted to implement the communist decree of a bigger Macedonia that had a strategic access to the Aegean Sea. In both wars, people had the opportunity to take sides and migrate if they felt oppressed. A lot of greek communist guerillas were pushed into Yugoslavia. As for democracy in Greece, we the slavophones have a political party called the Rainbow Party. Eventhough, they are indirectly financed by FYRO Macedonia the greek government has allowed them full privileges. Recent American History, shows that this wouldn't be allowed in America.
On a personal note, It is wonderful to read an American author who has adopted Communist views. However, it is wonderful to see that even the Vardar Macedonians what to share the Hellenic ideals and adopt Ancient Macedonian symbols for their flag. The road from communism to Democracy is difficult.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A little out of date, but an unbiased analysis.
Comment: Although much has happened in the past 10 years since this book was written, Mr. Danforth provides great insight on the nationalistic ideologies of the 3 sides within the conflict (Greeks, Macedonians & neutral). His approach is 100% UN-BIASED which in many cases is rare for this debate. He quotes Greek, Macedonian & independant sources on the Macedonian question, & provides insight on the less-beleivable claims from ALL sides. I also enjoyed how Mr. Danforth remained true to his trade & tried to keep away from the ancient history aspect of Macedonia & analyzed the real issue behind this conflict - the last 150 - 200 years.
For all, whether Macedonian, Greek or simply curious (but especially Macedonians & Greeks), please go into reading this book with an open mind. Although the book will leave you with an opinion favouring the Macedonian position, it can't be denied as a fair & unbiased analysis.
Customer Rating:
Summary: greeks will be greeks, but Macedonians are Macedonian
Comment: Macedonians since the beginning of time have not been greek. They actually had a different spoken language, and yes some of them spoke greek since greek was the political and world language used, something of what english is today. The reason why Greece is being so scared and defensive is because we macedonians do have land claims in northern greece and because they don't want to lose that land since it is basically the bread basket for Greece and that they don't want to grant any of the macedonian minority living there any rights. It's funny how the greeks claim on a greek cultural website sponsored by the greek government on how the Romans were greek as well. That by far is the funniest thing I've ever heard.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Greeks and Macedonians are presently engaged in an often heated dispute involving competing claims to a single identity. Each group asserts that they, and they alone, have the right to identify themselves as Macedonians. The Greek government denies the existence of a Macedonian nation and insists that all Macedonians are Greeks, while Macedonians vehemently assert their existence as a unique people. Here Loring Danforth examines the Macedonian conflict in light of contemporary theoretical work on ethnic nationalism, the construction of national identities and cultures, the invention of tradition, and the role of the state in the process of building a nation. The conflict is set in the broader context of Balkan history and in the more narrow context of the recent disintegration of Yugoslavia. Danforth focuses on the transnational dimension of the "global cultural war" taking place between Greeks and Macedonians both in the Balkans and in the diaspora. He analyzes two issues in particular: the struggle for human rights of the Macedonian minority in northern Greece and the campaign for international recognition of the newly independent Republic of Macedonia. The book concludes with a detailed analysis of the construction of identity at an individual level among immigrants from northern Greece who have settled in Australia, where multiculturalism is an official policy. People from the same villages, members of the same families, living in the northern suburbs of Melbourne have adopted different national identities.
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