Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History

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National Bestseller
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"In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. That November, while the world danced in the rubble of the wall, a journalist named Robert Kaplan was in Kosovo watching a riot between ethnic Serbs and Albanians. The future, Kaplan wrote, was not in a reuniting Germany but in a fragmenting Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, Kaplan saw the impending collapse of nation states and the rise of a Hobbesian jungle of gang wars, tribal slaughter and ideological jihads. Kaplan, ...

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Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History

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More About This Book

Overview

National Bestseller
New Edition

"In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. That November, while the world danced in the rubble of the wall, a journalist named Robert Kaplan was in Kosovo watching a riot between ethnic Serbs and Albanians. The future, Kaplan wrote, was not in a reuniting Germany but in a fragmenting Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, Kaplan saw the impending collapse of nation states and the rise of a Hobbesian jungle of gang wars, tribal slaughter and ideological jihads. Kaplan, of course, was right."--Porter J. Goss, Director of Central Intelligence

From the assassination that triggered World War I to the ethnic warfare in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia, the Balkans have been the crucible of the twentieth century, the place where terrorism and genocide first became tools of policy. Chosen as one of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, and greeted with critical acclaim as "the most insightful and timely work on the Balkans to date" (The Boston Globe), Kaplan's prescient, enthralling, and often chilling political travelogue is already a modern classic.

This new edition includes six opinion pieces written by Robert Kaplan about the Balkans between l996 and 2000 beginning just after the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and ending after the conclusion of the Kosovo war, with the removal of Slobodan Milosevic from power

Robert D. Kaplan, a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, is the author of ten books on travel and foreign affairs translated into many languages. They included Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus, a sequel to Balkan Ghosts.

From the assassination that set off World War I to the ethnic warfare sweeping Bosnia and Croatia, the Balkans have been the crucible of the 20th century--the place where terrorism and genocide were first practiced as tools of policy. This enthralling political travelogue helps us understand that region's anguish.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. That November, while the world danced in the rubble of the wall, a journalist named Robert Kaplan was in Kosovo watching a riot between ethnic Serbs and Albanians. The future, Kaplan wrote, was not in a reuniting Germany but in a fragmenting Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, Kaplan saw the impending collapse of nation states and the rise of a Hobbesian jungle of gang wars, tribal slaughter and ideological jihads. Kaplan, of course, was right."--Porter J. Goss, Director of Central Intelligence

New Yorker
Vivid...sensitive...Combines political reporting and literary travel writing.
San Francisco Chronicle
A timely guide to the ethnic and religious passions of 'Europe's forgotten rear door.'
Boston Globe
...The most insightful and timely work on the Balkans to date.
New York Times Books of the Century
...The fantastic stories Kaplan gathers bring one closer to understanding the real history of the Balkans.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Journalist Kaplan's vivid, impressionistic travelogue illuminates the Balkan nations' ethnic clashes and near-anarchic politics.
Library Journal
This updated edition of Kaplan's 1993 original includes six new pieces written between 1996 and 2000. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
The New Yorker
Vivid...sensitive...Combines political reporting and literary travel writing.
New York Times Books of the Century
...[T]he fantastic stories [Kaplan] gathers bring one closer to understanding the real history of the Balkans.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780312424930
  • Publisher: Picador
  • Publication date: 5/1/2005
  • Edition description: First Edition
  • Pages: 368
  • Sales rank: 229536
  • Product dimensions: 5.49 (w) x 8.16 (h) x 0.73 (d)

Meet the Author

Robert D. Kaplan, a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, is the author of more than a dozen books on travel and foreign affairs that have been translated into many languages. They included Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus and Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History.

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Table of Contents

Prologue : saints, terrorists, blood, and holy water
Pt. 1 Yugoslavia : historical overtures
1 Croatia : "just so they could go to heaven" 3
2 Old Serbia and Albania : Balkan "West Bank" 29
3 Macedonia : "a hand thirsting towards the realm of the stars" 49
4 The white city and its prophet 71
Pt. 2 Romania : Latin passion play
5 Athenee Palace, Bucharest 79
6 The Danube's bitter end 100
7 Moldavia : "conditioned to hate" 117
8 The land beyond Dracula's castle : the painted monasteries of Bucovina 134
9 Transylvanian voices 148
10 Transylvanian tale : the Pied Piper's children go back to Hamelin 169
11 Last glimpses : Timisoara and Bucharest 181
Pt. 3 Bulgaria : tales from communist Byzantium
12 "The warmth of each other's bodies" 193
13 The price of friendship 214
14 The bad and the good 220
Pt. 4 Greece : western mistress, eastern bride
15 Farewell to Salonika 233
16 "Teach me, Zorba : teach me to dance!" 249
17 The secret history 260
Epilogue : the road to Adrianople 282
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Customer Reviews

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  • Posted Wed Dec 29 00:00:00 EST 2010

    Great read for the pedestrian or the scholar

    Kaplan has become one of my favorite writers for his engrossing travelogues/histories/socio-political commentaries. This is the book that rocketed him to fame when Bill Clinton was seen carrying a copy while mulling over the decision of whether to involve the United States in Kosovo. This is probably not Kaplan's best, but its still worth a read.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Mar 27 00:00:00 EST 2001

    Decent treatment of the Balkans in early-1990s

    Perhaps I made the mistake of reading Kaplan's 'Eastward to Tartary' before 'Balkan Ghosts'. I think 'Eastward' is a far superior book. Otherwise, 'Balkan Ghosts' provides a great perspective on the situation in the Balkans in the early-1990's.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sun Oct 07 00:00:00 EDT 2001

    An excellent introduction to Europe's forgotten little child

    Kaplan introduces us to the balkan peninsula with a good general overview of the region. But for a scholar or someone who is familiar with the region, the book wouldn't be much of a mindbender. However, some countries are very weel described (Romania and Greece), while others like Yugoslavia are barely mentioned. I still recommend this book for those who are just discovering this wonderful fraction of Europe.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2001

    Great book for beginners

    I first read this book a few years ago and frequently read parts of it over. It was a refreshing, engrossing story that encouraged me to pursue more information regarding the histories of these countries. Let's face it, this is not a researched historical volume, it is a travelogue/journalism/socio-political writing. But it serves as an excellent primer for individuals who are dabbling in history. It was enjoyable, thought-provoking, and at least in my case encouraged me to read more about Balkan and Middle Eastern history. His writing was fair and non-condemning and in my opinion, balanced.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sun Feb 18 00:00:00 EST 2001

    Biased Tour de Force

    'Balkan Ghosts' is an impressionistic tour de force of the Balkan. It doesn't come near Rebecca West's masterpiece 'Black Lamb and Gray Falcon' - but it is a travelogue in the same tradition. The author, who is acquainted with certain parts of the Balkan, crosses these tortured lands just prior to the Yugoslav wars of secession. His prognoses are accurate, his depiction of ancient ethnic enmities sweeping, his pessimism justified in hindsight. But too many important aspects are neglected or papered over. The responsibility of the West, the interplay of big powers, the ineptitude of international organizations, the forces of democracy and ethnic reconciliation in the region, religious co-existence and much more besides. Though one sided and biased, it is a must read - if only to understand what influenced the American administration of Bill Clinton in the formulation of its Balkan policies. Sam Vaknin, author of 'After the Rain - How the West Lost the East'.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Aug 23 00:00:00 EDT 2000

    A guide for a traveller

    The best thing about the book is that if someone wanted to go to the balkans this would be a good book to read. It would help gain a basic understanding of the problems in that the balkans have. The most disappointing thing is that the book is a bit hard to follow. One paragraph discusses history and the next one a local that the author ran into.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Dec 28 00:00:00 EST 2009

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    Posted Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2008

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    Posted Sat Oct 25 00:00:00 EDT 2008

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Aug 18 00:00:00 EDT 2010

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