Imagining the Balkans - Hardcover

Starting in the 18th and 19th centuries and continuing up to the present, "Imagining the Balkans" covers the Balkans' most formative years. From the down fall of the Ottoman Empire, through the turbulent nationalist years of the nineteenth century, up to World War I, the idea of the Balkans was fiercely, often violently, contested. In the wake of World War I, the beginnings of a tradition, largely enforced by academics, emerged stigmatizing the Balkans. Since then, the region has suffered from the neglect, abuse, and scant regard of both western Europe and the world. The result has been in many direct ways to compound the Balkans' poverty, internal violence, and lack of national self-image. It is aimed at scholars and students of East European history.

About the Author Maria Todorova earned a degree in history from the University of Sofia in Bulgaria, where she taught Balkan history until 1988. She has since taught at several American universities, and is currently Professor of Balkan and East European History at the University of Florida.