A review by miocyon
The Balkans: A Short History by Mark Mazower

4.0

This wasn’t the book I expected it to be. I was thinking it would be more of a straight history book, with names, dates, events, but it was more of a cultural look at this important area. It’s coverage also extended back to earlier than I expected, or was looking for, to just before the Ottomans took over SE Europe. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about how geography, economy, and religion shaped the area. It wasn’t strictly chronological, which was a little maddening, but I like how it was thematically organized. Particularly interesting was the rise of nationalism, which is something we now associate with the Balkans, but is a relatively new phenomenon. Previously, the area was mostly peasant countryside, and there were no nations to get behind. The epilogue on the association of the Balkans with violence (not much based in reality) was also engaging, if a little out of place. I still need to find the kind of book I was looking for, but this was a pleasant, albeit a bit dry at times, surprise.