The Door

A Novel

Magda Szabó

The Door (Az Ajto, 1987) by Magda Szabo is a strong novel about the growing relationship between two women - Magda, a writer, and Emerence, her housekeeper - in the panorama of twentieth century Hungary. Emerence chooses to work for Magda, and a force of literature encounters a force of nature. Emerence truly has the strength of ten because her heart is pure. But Emerence has secrets - many secrets. Gradually Magda pries open the doors of Emerence's past. What she finds there is horrifying and astounding. Yet there is genuine humor, too, as the very different women interact with each other and with the dog they adopt.

Armenia

At the Crossroads

Joseph R. Masih, Robert O. Krikorian

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia has remained on the brink of on the brink of becoming an economic crossroads or an isolated backwater, a democratic or authoritarian state, a peaceful and prosperous country or a nation on the brink of conflict. Armenia's difficult independence is intricately linked with her transcaucasian neighbours, and whichever path she follows, they will undoubtedly be affected. Armenia: At the Crossroads considers Armenia as a nationa and as a state, and puts her tragic history into the context of current events since independence.

The Chronicle of the Czechs

Cosmas of Prague

Describes the earliest people to arrive in Bohemia, the first rulers and the origins of the Premyslid dynasty, the founding of Prague, and the early phases of Christianization. This title covers the period from 1037 to 1092, the age of Duke Bretislav I and his five contentious sons. It provides the oldest history of a Slavic people

Romania

Keith Hitchins

From the mid-nineteenth century until the Second World War, the energies of Rumanian political and intellectual élites were absorbed by the building of their nation. In this comprehensive and scholarly study Keith Hitchins traces these complex processes and explores how Rumania's leaders attempted to transform the ideology of modern nationhood into strong political, economic, and social institutions and to find ways of preserving independence in an international political and economic order dominated by the great powers. As the new Rumania took shape, the threads of historical continuity remained strikingly evident: in government a strong administrative centralization prevailed, despite the maturing of parliamentary institutions and the diversity of political expression; the national economy remained beholden to agriculture, despite the steady growth of industry; and in cultural life traditional values persisted, despite the adoption of modern forms. In foreign relations the most pressing aim was to unite all Rumanians in a single state and to defend its sovereignty within an uncertain international order. In all these endeavours, the measure of achievement was the West. After the Second World War, when the Communist Party came to power, this historical continuity was broken. The experiment in nation-building gave way to a new ideology, and Rumania now turned to the Soviet political and economic model.

Homeland Calling

Exile Patriotism and the Balkan Wars

Paul Hockenos

Pt. 1: Croatia: prodigal sons: Picnic in Mississauga -- Reconciling Croatia -- The avengers of Bleiburg -- Making baby MiGs. pt. 2: Serbia: little helpers: White eagles over Chicago -- The new lingua franca -- Turning on Slobo. pt. 3: Kosovo: made in Yugoslavia: Skanderbeg's way -- Birth of a lobby -- Exile on Königstrasse -- Frankie goes to Kosovo.

And Now My Soul is Hardened

Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia, 1918-1930

Alan M. Ball

Warfare, epidemics, and famine left millions of Soviet children homeless during the 1920s. Many became beggars, prostitutes, and thieves, and were denizens of both secluded underworld haunts and bustling train stations. Alan Ball's study of these abandoned children examines their lives and the strategies the government used to remove them from the streets lest they threaten plans to mold a new socialist generation. The "rehabilitation" of these youths and the results years later are an important lesson in Soviet history.

The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey

A Disputed Genocide

Guenter Lewy

Avoiding the sterile "was-it-genocide-or-not" debate, this book will open a new chapter in this contentious controversy and may help achieve a long-overdue reconciliation of Armenians and Turks.

Socialism in Georgian Colors

The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883–1917

Stephen F. Jones

Georgian social democracy was the most successful social democratic movement in Russia. Despite its size, it produced many of the leading revolutionaries of 1917. In the first of two volumes, Jones writes the history of this movement, which represented one of the earliest examples of European social democracy at the turn of the 20th century.

Sephardi Jewry

A History of the Judeo-Spanish Community, 14th-20th Centuries

Esther Benbassa, Aron Rodrigue

"Modified and updated version of a book that first appeared in Paris in 1993 under the title Juifs des Balkans ... (Editions La Decouverte)"--Acknowledgments, p. [xi].

The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention

Steven L. Burg, Paul Shoup

Offers an analysis of the crisis in Bosnia and dilemmas surrounding international efforts to resolve it. Early chapters examine Bosnian history and major developments in the war in Bosnia between 1992 and 1994, including the use of ethnic cleansing and the question of genocide. Later chapters delve into efforts of the international community to resolve the conflict. A final chapter discusses lessons to be learned. Includes bandw maps. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Brief Romanian Military History

Călin Hentea

One of the first historical mentions of an armed conflict in what is now Romania dates back to 335 B.C., when, prior to launching his legendary Asian campaign, Alexander the Great organized an expedition over the Western shore of the Danube to deter the Gaets and secure the frontier of the Macedonian Kingdom. Since then, the land located on the Black Sea and nestled amongst the Carpathian Mountains has seen more than its fair share of military struggles. Whether referring to the country's fight for independence against the Ottoman Empire in the 14th Century or the December Revolution in the late 20th Century, Romania's military history has been long and varied. This book presents a chronological and detailed narrative of the significant events in the nation's military history, covering everything from the campaign of the Persian king Darius I against the Scythians in 514 B.C. to Romania's admission into NATO in April of 2004. Beginning with a full chronology of the country's most important and decisive military events, Brief Romanian Military History then presents a general overview of 2500 years of Romanian history. Complete with biographies of significant military leaders and entries on important battles, wars, military organizations, structures, fortresses, uniforms, and weapons for each of the historical eras chronicled, this book is an essential reference tool for scholars, historians, anthropologists, journalists, and all others interested in the history of Romania.

Milosevic and Markovic

A Lust for Power

Slavoljub Đukić

Yugoslavian journalist Djukic presents a biography of notorious Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and his wife, professor Mira Markovic. With particular emphasis on events in Yugoslavia and Serbia over the last two decades, he describes Milosevic's rise to power, the growing influence of his wife, and his policies which contributed to the destruction of the country. The volume does not contain bibliographical references. Distributed in the US by Cornell University Services. c. Book News Inc.

A Concise History of the Armenian People

(from Ancient Times to the Present)

George A. Bournoutian

The first part of the study discusses the origins of the Armenians, the Urartian Kingdom, Armenia and the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, Sasanid and Byzantine periods. It also examines Christinaity in Armenia and the development of an alphabet and literature. The work then continues with the history of Armenia during the Arab, Turkish and Mongol periods. A separate chapter deals with the history of Cilician Armenia and the Crusades. The second part concentrates on the Armenian communities in the Ottoman, Persian, Indian, and Russian empires (1500-1918). It also details the Armenian diaspora in Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, the Arab World, the Far East, and the Americas. The study concludes with lengthy chapters on the history of the three Armenian republics (1918-1920); (1921-1991Soviet Armenia); and the current Armenian republic (1991-2001)

Balkan Anschluss

The Annexation of Montenegro and the Creation of the Common South Slavic State

Srdja Pavlovic

Tackles the thorny issue of the disappearance of Montenegro as a sovereign state in the course of and as a result of the First World War. This book investigates the ambiguous and often troubled relationship between two "Serb states," Montenegro and Serbia. It examines the politics and power plays of Serbs, Montenegrins, and others.

Dismembering the State

The Death of Yugoslavia and why it Matters

P. H. Liotta

P. H. Liotta's previous book, The Wreckage Reconsidered, was acclaimed as a tour de force of scholarship. In Dismembering the State, Liotta continues to challenge numerous assumptions about the disintegration of Yugoslavia. His research uses an "ecological," or holistic, perspective to address interwoven questions such as the role of military intervention as coercive diplomacy, the use of chaos as a strategy against America's and NATO's technological military predominance, and the influence of post-Cold War European democratic and economic reforms. This book considers how a host of factors, from 1991 to 1999, combined to contribute significantly to both the disintegration of the nation-state and to the continued instability of the present states of the former Yugoslavia. Of interest to both scholars and sophisticated lay readers, Liotta has fashioned a scholarly assessment of this timely and complex topic that promises to be as innovative as it is erudite.

Romania

Borderland of Europe

Lucian Boia

Romania occupies a unique position on the borderland of Europe. In this engaging and informative book, the prominent Romanian writer Lucian Boia surveys the history of his native land from the Roman period to modern times, illuminating its complex culture and tumultuous history, and the diversity of its inter-ethnic relations -- sometimes conflictual but always enriching. From Count Dracula and Queen Marie to Mircea Eliade and Nicolae Ceausescu, Boia introduces us to Romania's real and imagined heroes and villains, providing among other things an enlightening account of the Communist era. He shows how the disruptions produced by Communism further held back a country whose historical late-coming had only partly been compensated for by the modernization programme upon which it had embarked in the nineteenth century. Boia argues that Romania today is a land of strong contrasts where striking differences exist between the elite and the rest of the population, and where the match is still being played out between nationalists and partisans of integration in Europe -- a country still trying to fix a contemporary identity and envision a viable future for itself. His occasionally humorous, always affectionate text concludes with a tour of the capital city of Bucharest, whose apartment blocks, palaces, boulevards and public monuments embody Romania's traditional values and contemporary contradictions.

Kosovo

What Everyone Needs to Know

Tim Judah

Presents the historical and geopolitical background of the country of Kosovo, including its annexation by Serbia in 1912 and incorporation into Yugoslavia, its declaration of independence in February 2008, and its strategic importance to the Western Balkans.

Yugoslavia

A State that Withered Away

Dejan Jović

The disintegration of Yugoslavia was the result of many factors, not of a single one, but the primary one, the author argues, was commitment of the Yugoslav political elite to the Marxist ideology of withering away of the state. Ideology had a central place in Yugoslav politics. The trend of decentralization of Yugoslavia was not primarily motivated by reasons of ethnic politics, but by Marxist beliefs that the state should be decentralized and weakened until it was finally replaced by a self-managing society, especially the case during the extended period of the last 15 years before the actual breakdown of the Yugoslav socialist federation. Yugoslavia: A State that Withered Away examines the emergence, implementation, crisis, and the breakdown of the fourth (Kardelj's) constitutive concept of Yugoslavia (1974-1990), and relations between anti-statist ideology of self-management and the actual collapse of state institutions.

A History of Polish Christianity

Jerzy Kloczowski

This is a single-volume history of Christianity in Poland, a subject at the core of religious history and European secular history alike. The book covers the development of Polish Christianity from the tenth century to the year 2000, placing it in the broader context of East-Central European political, social, religious and cultural history. Jewish-Christian relations, and the problematic religious history of the Jews in the region, play an important part in the story, and there are pervasive references to countries historically linked to Poland, such as Lithuania, Belarus and the Ukraine. Jerzy Kloczowski shows how the history of Poland, and Polish Christianity, are embedded in the complex systems of relations with other countries and religious denominations. A History of Polish Christianity should be read by anyone interested in the confrontation between Christianity and the totalitarian systems of the twentieth century, and in the interplay between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Lords of the Horizons

A History of the Ottoman Empire

Jason Goodwin

Dramatic and passionate, comic and gruesome, "Lords of the Horizons" is a history of the Ottoman Empire, a travel book, and a vision of a lost world, all in one. 30 illustrations.