The Balkan Wars
Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia. Today's headlines could have been written in  the 1800s or in the 1400s. Conflict has raged unabated in the Balkans for  hundreds of years and always, writes historian André Gerolymatos, over the same  tired issues: nationalism and religion."Post–Cold War Europe and North America are at a complete loss to understand why  these small countries are hostages to the past and seem so willing to fight the  same battles all over again," writes Gerolymatos. This book attempts to offer  answers, as Gerolymatos explores the ethnic and religious tensions that plague  the peninsula--and that have been used by foreign powers (whether Ottomans,  Hapsburgs, or NATO) to extend their hold on the Balkans. Along the way he  examines events that have little meaning for outsiders, but that have signal  importance for the region: the Battle of Kosovo and the strategically more  significant Battle of Marica, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria  in 1914, the collapse of Yugoslavia. Gerolymatos offers a useful essay for  anyone who would seek to understand contemporary events in southeastern Europe,  events with deep and bitter roots.--Gregory McNamee--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.