Book Shelve: Albania Part I

Albania is a fascinating and beautiful country with complex history and unique culture. Below list of books reveals much of the truth about Albania.

High Albania by M. Edith Durham

“The Balkans were a dangerous place in the early twentieth century. The Ottoman Empire was on the verge of collapse, losing control of areas like Albania where the people were calling for political rights. Disease, the threat of violence and war were looming over the people who lived in primitive conditions.

Yet, it was into this world that Mary Edith Durham, a thirty-seven-year-old Edwardian lady dressed in boots, long skirt, umbrella, and straw hat, entered. She would go on to spend the next twenty years of her life travelling through the Balkans, focusing particularly on Albania and Kosovo, some of the most underdeveloped regions of Europe. In her book Edith explains the history of the region, geography, and cultural interactions including their almost medieval blood honor system, which led feuds between families to persist for generations.”

Albania in a Nutshell: A Brief History and Chronology of Events by Robert Elsie

“But a few decades ago, Albania was something of a curiosity on Planet Earth. Perhaps only North Korea was as isolated from the rest of the world as Albania was. For left-wing idealists, it was a distant Shangri-la where all social inequalities had been done away with; for those few individuals with concrete knowledge of the realities of the Stalinist regime that held power until 1990, and for the vast majority of people living in Albania, it was hell on earth.”

Modern Albania: From Dictatorship to Democracy in Europe by Fred C. Abrahams

“In the early 1990s, Albania, arguably Europe's most closed and repressive state, began a startling transition out of forty years of self-imposed Communist isolation. Albanians who were not allowed to practice religion, travel abroad, wear jeans, or read "decadent" Western literature began to devour the outside world. They opened cafés, companies, and newspapers. Previously banned rock music blared in the streets.”

The Albanians: A Modern History by Miranda Vickers

This is the first full account of a country that, following decades of isolation, has undergone unprecedented changes to its political system: the collapse of communism, the progression to multi-party elections and the upheaval that followed the March 1997 uprising. Miranda Vickers traces the history of the Albanian people from the Ottoman period to the formation of the Albanian Communist Party. She considers the charismatic leadership of Enver Hoxha; Albania’s relationship with Tito and the alliance with the Soviet Union and then China; and the long period of isolation.

The Tribes of Albania,: History, Society and Culture (Library of Balkan Studies) by Robert Elsie

“Northern Albania and Montenegro are the only regions in Europe to have retained a true tribal society up to the mid-twentieth century.”

Albanian Folktales and Legends by Robert Elsie

“Folktales are still very much alive in the mountains of Albania, a land of haunted history.”

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