Five Hundred Years in the Balkans: from the Fall of the Byzantine Empire to the 21st Century
About This Novel
This is a concise short book introducing the history of the Balkans, written by a professor at Columbia University in the United States who specializes in Balkan history research. Due to the special geographical location of the Balkans, more wars and hardships have occurred here than we know. However, it is unfair to regard the Balkans solely as the "powder keg of Europe" and the source of trouble. In "Five Hundred Years in the Balkans", the author Mark Mazoll has deep sympathy for the various ethnic groups in the Balkans, introduces their long history and cultural traditions, and explains how the mountains, rivers, religious beliefs, and ambitious powers from all directions have profoundly affected the history and society of the Balkans. In modern times, the Balkan nation, unwilling to become a pawn in the game between great powers, launched a protracted struggle for independence. But in the twentieth century, the Balkans still could not escape misfortune and became the forefront of two world wars and the "Cold War". From Greece to the former Yugoslavia, from Istanbul to Sarajevo, how many scars are scattered across the Balkans, a land that has been repeatedly ravaged by war? How many past events are worth remembering and pondering? Balkan history expert Mark Mazoor offers a concise and fascinating look at the story of the Balkans, and an apocalypse of the clash and convergence of civilizations.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Official(1)Scraped 5d ago
Can't sit up flat
A good history book not only allows people to see the origin of the problem clearly, but also makes people deeply entangled in the contradictions of the problem. Sometimes sober, sometimes conflicted. It is so powerless to struggle with the fate of individuals in conflicts with the nation. In the long run, good history books are actually slowly describing how the fate of individuals finds a way out in conflicts with the country. The three books I have read recently: Five Hundred Years in the Balkans, The Story of the Mediterranean, and this is one of the tangled parts of the Silk Road. Highly recommended.
Rating
Community(0)
Official(1)Scraped 5d ago
Can't sit up flat
A good history book not only allows people to see the origin of the problem clearly, but also makes people deeply entangled in the contradictions of the problem. Sometimes sober, sometimes conflicted. It is so powerless to struggle with the fate of individuals in conflicts with the nation. In the long run, good history books are actually slowly describing how the fate of individuals finds a way out in conflicts with the country. The three books I have read recently: Five Hundred Years in the Balkans, The Story of the Mediterranean, and this is one of the tangled parts of the Silk Road. Highly recommended.
