Virtual Macedonia Bookstore - Croatia Through History

List Price: $60.00
Our Price: $33.50
Your Save: $ 26.50 ( 44% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Saqi Books

Average Customer Rating:

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 949.72
EAN: 9780863567759
ISBN: 0863567754
Label: Saqi Books
Manufacturer: Saqi Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 743
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Publisher: Saqi Books
Studio: Saqi Books

Related Items
A Taste of Croatia Democratic Transition in Croatia: Value Transformation, Education, & Media (Eugenia and Hugh M. Stewart '26 Series on Eastern Europe) The Myth of Ethnic War: Serbia And Croatia in the 1990s Croatia: A History The Best of Croatian Cooking

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Independence over the centuries?
Comment: Branka Magas wrote The Destruction of Yugoslavia: Tracking the Break-Up 1980-92, a collection of her writings published between 1981 and the end of 1991. She prefaced her book with a summary: "Yugoslavia did not die a natural death ... [it was] destroyed for the cause of Greater Serbia". She blamed Nationalists seeking a racially homogeneous Serbian state and ex-Communists wanting to stay in power, led by Milosevic and supported by the primarily Serbian Yugoslav National Army. Non-Serbs defended themselves with greater vigor than expected, and at a great cost. Ms Magas had predicted the course of events, and her book received outstanding reviews.

Ms Magas is a Croat and a left-wing thinker who could be expected to read history as a "class-firster"; she argued in "The Destruction" that in this region at least nation matters more than class. She makes the same point in "Croatia Through History", describing in great detail Croatia's history from the early Middle Ages to the present.

For this general reader the book appeared even handed and fair. She was particularly good, I thought, in describing the conflicts and debates between Croats who advocated an independent country and those that argued at various times for becoming a part of Austria, Yugoslavia or a larger European federation.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Customer Rating:

Summary: An even-handed history that pays close attention to the many plural ethnic, cultural, and national influences upon the region
Comment: Consultant and scholar Branka Magas presents the culmination of her intense research in Croatia Through History: The Making of a European State, an in-depth scrutiny of Croatia's history and development from its origin in the early Middle Ages to the modern day. The evolution of Croatia's institutions, ideology, social customs, and political strategies are all examined in turn. Croatia's rich and complex past includes eras when it was territorially and/or administratively divided between various states, and even times when the threat of extinction loomed. Croatia's long struggle for survival has produced a spectrum of national ideologies, some advocating independent statehood while others reach for the benefits of becoming part of an Austrian, Yugoslav or European federation. An even-handed history that pays close attention to the many plural ethnic, cultural, and national influences upon the region, illustrated with a handful of black-and-white and color images. Highly recommended especially for public or college library history shelves.

Editorial Reviews:

This comprehensive volume recounts Croatia's development from the early Middle Ages to the present day. Branka Maga observes that the ties that bound Croatia to other states for centuries have contributed to the state's vitality, with a complex web of Slav, Croat, Dalmatian, Slavonian, Serb, Jewish, Italian, Yugoslav, and other identities emerging as apart of an ongoing social and political dialogue, which at times has included open strife.

Branka Maga is a historian, journalist, and commentator on the former Yugoslavia. She co-founded the Croatian Peace Forum in 1991 and the Alliance to Defend Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993.