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Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: the Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922-1930

Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: the Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922-1930
By Elisabeth Kontogiorgi
Clarendon Press (Oxford) 2006
Reviewed by Melina Grizo*
Over a decade ago, an anthropological study of Greek Macedonia conducted by scholar Anastasia Karakasidou resulted in violent reactions from Greek nationalists, and also generated great interest among the community of Balkan researchers. In her book, Fields [...]

Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro

Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro
By Elizabeth Roberts
Cornell University Press (2007), 521 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
Although released just in 2007, Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro comes from a much older school of scholarship. With this much needed work, former diplomat Elizabeth Roberts has produced the newest and [...]

Macedonian: A Course for Beginning and Intermediate Students

Macedonian: A Course for Beginning and Intermediate Students
By Christina E. Kramer
University of Wisconsin Press, 2nd edition (2003), 530 pp., some illustrations
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
The year 2008 was declared the ‘Year of the Macedonian language’ by the government in Skopje, a proclamation that has been echoed by the far-flung Macedonian diaspora in different ways. That [...]

Television, Power, and the Public in Russia

Television, Power, and the Public in Russia

By Ellen Mickiewicz
Cambridge University Press (2008), 220 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
Since the days of the Soviet Union, the role of the media in shaping public opinion in Russia has been continuously scrutinized by foreign observers. This year, a series of events ranging from the transfer of power from [...]

Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese

Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese
By Patrick Leigh Fermor
John Murray, London (2004) 320 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
2008 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the original publication of Patrick Leigh Fermor’s Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese, considered one of the most important travelogues of the 20th century by many critics. Although the book is now often [...]

A Nation at Bay: What an American Woman Saw and Did in Suffering Serbia

A Nation at Bay: What an American Woman Saw and Did in Suffering Serbia
By Ruth S. Farnam, over 30 B/W photos
Bobbs-Merrill Co. (1918), 229 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
This remarkable first-hand account of the First World War in the Balkans, available infrequently and only in its original 1918 printing, is the passionately told work of an [...]

Byzantium’s Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204

Byzantium’s Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204

by Paul Stephenson
Cambridge University Press (2000), 352 pp., 22 maps and tables
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
This is one of the most important contemporary books for the history of the Byzantine Balkans. It creates a thoroughly new picture of the social, economic and political life of the [...]

Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa’ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad (2)

Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa’ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad
By John R. Schindler
Zenith Press (2007), 368 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
Note: Owing to length, the following review is being published in two parts.
Part one appeared on March 22, 2008. Part two (March 29, 2008) appears below.
Deception and Deceit: The Media and the War
The second and third [...]

Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa’ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad (1)

Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa’ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad
By John R. Schindler
Zenith Press (2007), 368 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
Note: Owing to length, the following review is being published in two parts.
Part one, which follows below, appears on March 22, 2008. Part two will appear on March 29, 2008.
Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa’ida, and the Rise [...]

The Falcon and the Eagle: Montenegro and Austria-Hungary, 1908-1914

The Falcon and the Eagle: Montenegro and Austria-Hungary, 1908-1914
By John D. Treadway
Purdue University Press (1983), 349 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
In the preface to this helpful study of Montenegrin diplomacy in the pre-WWI era, author John D. Treadway cites Greek-Canadian historian L.S. Stavrianos: “the role of Montenegro in South Slav and general Balkan affairs was quote [...]

Announcing New Weekend Review Section

Balkanalysis.com would like to announce a new biweekly section for reviews of Balkan-interest books. A new book will be reviewed every other weekend in this space, starting on Saturday, February 23.

News from Balkanalysis.com: Summer Recess, New Books, Essential Articles

Balkanalysis.com would like to inform its readers that the site will be on summer recess through September. Look for new articles and photos to be posted then. Until we’re back, readers may like to check out two new books from Balkanalysis.com director Christopher Deliso, and to peruse the archive- as well as new hand-picked essential background articles presented for you below.

The first new book, The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West, published by Praeger Security International, details in depth the sordid story of how Western interventions in the Balkans during the 1990’s directly allowed foreign Islamic terrorist groups to set up shop- and how Western policy since has created a climate in which extremist groups can thrive, boding ill for regional security.

A work of unprecedented depth, The Coming Balkan Caliphate analyzes the situation on a country-by-country basis, and will be useful for general-interest ‘beginners’ to Balkan issues and experienced professionals alike. Relying on five years of field research and dozens of interviews with ranking security officials from several Western and regional countries, The Coming Balkan Caliphate dispels myths and enhances our knowledge of the emerging extremist threat coming from the Balkans.

The second new book, Hidden Macedonia: The Mystic Lakes of Ohrid and Prespa, is a travelogue out now from London’s Haus Publishing, which details the author’s circular journey around Lakes Prespa and Ohrid, through Greece, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. Along the way, the history, culture and contemporary life of the great Macedonian lakes are intertwined with a little adventure, camaraderie and good food and drink. Hidden Macedonia will appeal to travelers looking forward to visiting the region, or those who are content to imagine the Macedonian lakes from afar.

Finally, here is a list of twelve original and essential articles (in no particular order). All are among those published over the last year, and will enhance readers’ knowledge and help tide you over until we return from summer recess.

Thanks for your understanding and continued reading.

-Balkanalysis.com

The Strategic Significance of Greek Thrace: Current Dynamics and Emerging Factors (Ioannis Michaletos & Christopher Deliso)

Turkey: Why a Coup, Soft or Hard is Unlikely in 2007 (Mehmet Kalyoncu, December 2, 2006)

Estimating Yugoslavia, (David Binder, December 22, 2006)

In Macedonia, New Concerns over Rural Fundamentalism (Christopher Deliso, October 2, 2006)

Bulgaria To Finally Open Secret Files (Jan Buruma, May 15, 2007)

A Brief Travelers’ Guide to Sarajevo’s Local Traditions, (Lidija Jularić, November 17, 2006)

Exclusive: How the US Ordered Increased Activity against Macedonia’s Islamists after the Fort Dix Arrests (Balkanalysis.com, June 22, 2007)

Turkey: Europe’s Emerging Energy Corridor for Central Eurasian, Caucasian and Caspian Oil and Gas (Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu, January 20, 2007)

Varieties of Religious Experience in a Macedonian Village (Christopher Deliso, September 27, 2006)

The Hijacking of a Nation (Sibel Edmonds, November 29, 2006)

Wahhabis in Labunista Antagonize Locals, as New Details Emerge about Italian Arrests, (Balkanalysis.com, January 5, 2007)

Greece, Turkey and Balkan Security: Interview with John M. Nomikos (Balkanalysis.com, December 12, 2006)

Roxy Rocks Ohrid

By Jason Miko
Whoever would have believed it? If you had been in the center of Ohrid town on Saturday morning, July 15, walking past the coffee bar Slavica, you would have noticed — if you could have even recognized them — the members of Roxy Music: Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay and (session musician) Guy Pratt. [...]

Our Man in Yugoslavia: The Story of a Secret Service Operative

Our Man in Yugoslavia: The Story of a Secret Service Operative

By Sebastian Richie

Routledge (2004), 191 pp., 15 contemporary photos, 3 maps

Reviewed by Christopher Deliso

Our Man in Yugoslavia: The Story of a Secret Service Operative is not only the intriguing and likeable account, for the first time, of the adventures of the first covert British agent [...]

Balkanalysis.com: the New and Improved Version

We at Balkanalysis.com are proud to welcome our readers to the new and improved version of the website. With a different look, improved functionality, enhanced features and more, we are sure that you will enjoy the site more than ever.

Here’s what’s different:

-Excellent search capabilities; articles are also cross-posted in up to 12 different categories.

-Photo of the week: every week, a beautiful new photo from the Balkans to capture your attention.

-Security & Intelligence Briefs: An exciting new feature that provides readers with vital information on the most important security trends in the region. We anticipate that this will be one of the most popular aspects of the site, and intend to therefore provide unique information not available elsewhere.

-A large and growing collection of interesting and useful Balkan links categorized by country.

Readers should note that since we are just finishing the programming and design, there are bound to be some bugs for the first few days, most notably in terms of symbols and letters that do not appear correctly. We are working on this and all will be fixed within a few days.

We are very happy to hear your feedback regarding the new look of the website. Performing the makeover was a long and arduous effort which could not have been done without the excellent work of Mike Ewens at Betanaught.com Hosting and Design.

Finally we should note that readers can show their appreciation for our efforts to make a better Balkanalysis.com by donating today.

Best wishes from the Balkanalysis.com Team.

The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indians

The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indians
By Ralph K. Andrist, with an introduction by Dee Brown.
University of Oklahoma Press (2001), 371 pp.
Reviewed by Carl K. Savich
The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indians was originally published in 1964, but brought back in 2001 by the University [...]

Networks, Terrorism, and Global Insurgency

Networks, Terrorism, and Global Insurgency
Robert J. Bunker, ed., various contributors
Routledge (2005), 211 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
A collection of essays from leading researchers in the fields of counterterrorism, insurgencies, and organized crime, Networks, Terrorism, and Global Insurgency is a revealing and sometimes provocative book that tackles these seminal issues from a variety [...]

Terror Incorporated: Tracking the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks

Terror Incorporated: Tracking the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks
By Loretta Napoleoni (Foreword by Greg Palast)
Seven Sisters Press (2005), 324 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
Originally published in England in 2003 under the title Modern Jihad, this updated, comprehensive survey of the means, structure, and qualitative dimensions of terror financing in the global age [...]

Jean Baudrillard: The Spirit of Terrorism and Other Essays

The Spirit of Terrorism and Other Essays
By Jean Baudrillard
Verso (2002), 105 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Deliso
Even four years after its original publication, The Spirit of Terrorism remains one of the most important volumes to have emerged from the rubble of the World Trade Center. Like most of Baudrillard’s work, [...]

Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle

Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle (Verso, 2004), 192 pp.
By Slavoj Žižek
Reviewed by Viola Trebicka*
Slavoj √Ö¬Ωižek’s Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle does not fail to “beguile, browbeat, dumbfound, dazzle, confuse, mislead, overwhelm, and generally subdue the reader into acceptance,” as a critic of √Ö¬Ωižek put it with reference to some of his earlier work. The Slovenian philosopher’s trademark [...]

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