The Balkans: A Post-Communist History

An excellent companion volume to the successful A History of Eastern Europe, this is a country-by-country treatment of the contemporary history of each of the Balkan states: Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosova.
With a distinctive conceptual framework for explaining divergent patterns of historical change, the book shifts the emphasis away from traditional cultural explanations and concentrates on the pervasive influence of strongly entrenched vertical power-structures and power-relations.
Focusing on political and economic continuities and changes since the 1980s, The Balkans includes brief overviews of the history of each state prior to the 1980s to provide the background to enable all students of Eastern European history to make sense of the more recent developments.

1. Conceptual Frameworks: ‘The Balkans’ and the Nature of Post-Communist Democratization and Economic Transformations 2. Albania: Between a Rock and a Hard Place 3. Bulgaria: The Devil has all the Best Tunes 4. Romania: The Road to the EU is Paved with Good Intentions 5. Croatia: Paying a Price 6. Serbia: From Serbdom to Pariahdom 7. Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Travails of Coexistence 8. Macedonia: Towards a Bi-National State? 9. Montenegro: To Be or Not to Be? 10. Kosova: The Forging of a Nation and a State 11. The Post-Communist Balkans, the West and the EU: Major Challenges and Contradictions between Rhetoric and Reality