Download or read book A Concise History of Albania written by Bernd J. Fischer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-29 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Concise History of Albania charts the history of Albania and its people, within their Balkan and European contexts. It shows the country's journey from its ancient past, still shrouded in mystery and controversy, through its difficult transition from a particularly brutal form of communism to an evolving form of democracy and a market economy. Bernd Fischer and Oliver Schmitt challenge some of the traditional narratives concerning the origins of the Albanians, and the relations between Albanians and their Balkan neighbours. This authoritative and up-to-date single-volume history analyses the political, social, economic, and cultural developments which led to the creation of the Albanian state and the modern nation, as well as Albania's more recent experience with authoritarianism, war, and communism. It greatly contributes to our understanding of the challenges facing contemporary Albanians, as well as the issues confronting the region as a whole as it attempts to grapple with one of the last remaining significant ethnic issues in the Balkans.
Download or read book History of Albania written by Tajar Zavalani and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-01-19 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The History of Albania by Tajar Zavalani (1903-1966) is the first full-length history of Albania to have been written in English. It covers the period from ancient times to the mid-twentieth century and provides the reader with a good overview of the historical development of a Balkan nation, which has to a large extent been ignored, even by scholars and specialists in Southeast European history. Retrieved after fifty years of oblivion, the fruits of Zavalani's imposing project are now available to the reading public for the first time. Tajar Zavalani was born in Korça (Albania) and fled to Italy with the rise of the dictatorship of Ahmet Zogu. There, Soviet agents recruited him and offered to let him study in Russia as a “victim of counter-revolution.” In November 1930, after several years of study in Moscow and Leningrad, he left Russia, about which he now had serious misgivings. After the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, Zavalani was interned in northern Italy, from where he escaped with his wife, Selma Zavalani (1915-1995), former lady-in-waiting to Queen Geraldine, via Switzerland to France and then in 1940, with King Zog's party, on into exile in England. In November 1940, Zavalani was given a job in the BBC's new Albanian-language service, which he came to head and where he worked until his death in an accident on 19 August 1966. He was a well-known and active figure of the Albanian exile community in Britain. The present History of Albania was composed for the most part between 1961 and 1963.About the Editors:Robert Elsie is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Albanian studies and the author of many books on the history and culture of Albania.Bejtullah Destani is a British-Kosovar scholar and founder of the Centre for Albanian Studies in London. As a diplomat, he has served recently at the Embassies of the Republic of Kosovo in London and Rome.
Download or read book Albanian Identities written by Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors to this study critically de-construct Albanian myths and offer insights into Albanian history and politics. They conclude with contemporary Albanian critiques of the origins and functions of Albanian politics and ideologies.
Download or read book Early Albania written by Robert Elsie and published by Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. This book was released on 2003 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume endeavours to throw light on a corner of Europe which is often ignored by historians. The book is not a history of early Albania, but rather a collection of important historical documents and texts from the 11th to the 17th centuries, which will add to an understanding of the early history and development of Albania and its people. The vast majority of these works has never been published in English before. The first section of the book focusses on the emergence of the Albanians as a people and provides the reader with the earliest documents which make reference to them. The second, and main section of the volume provides a broader view of history and geography and, in particular, of life in Albania from the 12th to the 17th centuries. It relies primarily on the reports of travellers and chroniclers, many of whom offer fascinating, firsthand information on what they saw and experienced during their travels in the country.
Download or read book Nobody s Kingdom written by T.J. Winnifrith and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2021-05-05 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, foreign invasion, communism and tribal conflict: these have been the realities of life in Northern Albania for centuries. In this rich and comprehensive history, Tom Winnifrith examines the many different elements that have shaped this independent and little-known region of the Balkans. He explores the fundamental division between the South of Albania and its mysterious, romantic North - more feudal, more tribal, more Catholic and more prone to Austrian and Italian influence. It is also a region less affected by Greece, both ancient and modern, and by medieval Byzantium or the Orthodox faith. Northern Albania, with a terrain and climate much harsher than the south of the country, has traditionally had little respect for law and authority while its inhabitants remain in thrall to an ancient honour code -- the kanun -- demanding blood feuds and terrible revenge. Nobody's Kingdom traces the history of this ruggedly beautiful region, frequently disturbed by both invaders and internal strife yet retaining a distinct national identity and character. From its origins in the ancient kingdom of Illyria and the Roman province of Illyricum, through Byzantine and Ottoman rule, the granting of Albanian independence in 1912, the rise and fall of communism to its current fragile democracy, Northern Albania can be seen as a cultural crossroads - especially remarkable given its mountainous and difficult landscape. This book, both scholarly and readable, is the first modern comprehensive history of Northern Albania and is a timely and accessible introduction to a remote and inaccessible region.
Download or read book The Albanians written by Miranda Vickers and published by I. B. Tauris. This book was released on 2014-02-27 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. Newly revised for this paperback edition, The Albanians considers the gradual process of reform and the fragility of the Albanian experiment with democracy, and includes a dramatic account of the days leading up to Sali Berisha's resignation of the presidency. It has now been updated to cover the crisis in Kosovo that has led to the first 'Western' war in Europe since 1945.
Download or read book National Romanticism written by Balázs Trencsényi and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2007-01-10 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 67 texts, including hymns, manifestos, articles or extracts from lengthy studies exemplify the relation between Romanticism and the national movements in the cultural space ranging from Poland to the Ottoman Empire. Each text is accompanied by a presentation of the author, and by an analysis of the context in which the respective work was born.The end of the 18th century and first decades of the 19th were in many respects a watershed period in European history. The ideas of the Enlightenment and the dramatic convulsions of the French Revolution had shattered the old bonds and cast doubt upon the established moral and social norms of the old corporate society. In culture a new trend, Romanticism, was successfully asserting itself against Classicism and provided a new key for a growing number of activists to 're-imagine' their national community, reaching beyond the traditional frameworks of identification (such as the 'political nation', regional patriotism, or Christian universalism). The collection focuses on the interplay of Romantic cultural discourses and the shaping of national ideology throughout the 19th century, tracing the patterns of cultural transfer with Western Europe as well as the mimetic competition of national ideologies within the region.
Download or read book The Tribes of Albania written by Robert Elsie and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-04-24 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Northern Albania and Montenegro are the only regions in Europe to have retained a true tribal society up to the mid-twentieth century. This book provides the first scholarly investigation of this tribal society, a pioneer work that offers a detailed survey of all the major Albanian-speaking tribes in Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo. Robert Elsie provides comprehensive material on the 69 different tribes, including data on their locations, religious affiliations, tribal structures and relations, population statistics, tribal folklore, legends and history. Also included are excerpts from the works of prominent nineteenth and early-twentieth century writers, such as Edith Durham and Johann Georg von Hahn, who travelled through the tribal regions, as well as short biographies on prominent figures linked to the tribes. As the first book of its kind, The Tribes of Albania will be of interest to scholars and students of the Balkans, of southeastern European anthropology, ethnography and history.
Download or read book Rebels Believers Survivors written by Noel Malcolm and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-10 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thanks to its half-century under Communism, as well as its little-known language, Albania has suffered from neglect and a sense of isolation. Yet, as this study helps to show, the Albanian lands have a long history of interaction with others. They have been a meeting-ground of Christianity and Islam; a channel through which Venice connected with the Ottoman Balkans; a place of interest to the Habsburgs; and a focus for the ambitions of neighbouring powers in the late Ottoman period. Albanians themselves could have many different identities. The studies in this volume, by one of the world's leading experts on Albanian history, range from the fifteenth century to the twentieth, taking in politics, social history, religion and diplomacy. Each is based on original research; the longest, on Ali Pasha, uses a wealth of manuscript material to tell, for the first time, the full story of the vital role he played in the international politics of the Napoleonic Wars. Other studies bring to life ordinary individuals hitherto unknown to history: women hauled before the Inquisition, for example, or the author of the first Albanian autobiography. Some of these studies have been printed before (several in hard-to-find publications, and one only in Albanian), but the greater part of this book appears here for the first time. This is not only a landmark publication for readers interested in south-east European history. It also engages with many broader issues, including religious conversion, 'crypto-Christianity' among Muslims, methods of enslavement within the Ottoman Empire, and the nature of modern myth-making about national identity.
Download or read book The History of Albania written by Kristo Frashëri and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Albania written by Robert Elsie and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2010-03-19 with total page 663 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albania is not well known by outsiders; it was deliberately closed to the outside world during the communist era. Now it has thankfully become free again, its borders are open and it can be visited, and it is increasingly integrating with the rest of Europe and beyond. Unfortunately, Albania has had its share of problems in the post-communist era; it's a land of destitution and despair, thanks in part to the Albanian mafia, which has turned the country into one of blood-feuds, kalashnikovs, and eternal crises. Yet, Albania is, in essence, a European nation like any other and will soon, it is to be hoped, advance and take its proper place in Europe and the world. The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Albania relates the history of this little-known country through a detailed chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, appendixes, and over 700 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.
Download or read book Modern Albania written by Fred Abrahams and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. Modern Albania offers a vivid history of the Albanian Communist regime’s fall and the trials and tribulations that led the country to become the state it is today. The book provides an in-depth look at the Communists' last Politburo meetings and the first student revolts, the fall of the Stalinist regime, the outflows of refugees, the crash of the massive pyramid-loan schemes, the war in neighboring Kosovo, and Albania’s relationship with the United States. Fred Abrahams weaves together personal experience from more than twenty years of work in Albania, interviews with key Albanians and foreigners who played a role in the country’s politics since 1990—including former Politburo members, opposition leaders, intelligence agents, diplomats, and founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army—and a close examination of hundreds of previously secret government records from Albania and the United States. A rich, narratively-driven account, Modern Albania gives readers a front-row seat to the dramatic events of the last battle of Cold War Europe.
Download or read book The Albanians written by Edwin E. Jacques and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-01-30 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many Albanians, who are descended from the Illyrians and Pelasgians, trace their roots to Achilles and other heroes of the siege of Troy, and claim Alexander the Great as their own. During twelve consecutive periods of foreign domination, the ethnic identity of the Albanians has been constantly threatened, first by the Eastern and Western empires of Christendom, then by the Ottoman Turks, and most recently by Soviet and Chinese communists.
Download or read book The Albanians written by Miranda Vickers and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-28 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. Newly revised for this paperback edition, The Albanians considers the gradual process of reform and the fragility of the Albanian experiment with democracy, and includes a dramatic account of the days leading up to Sali Berisha's resignation of the presidency. It has now been updated to cover the crisis in Kosovo that has led to the first 'Western' war in Europe since 1945.
Download or read book Albania written by Library of Congress. Federal Research Division and published by Headquarters Department of Army. This book was released on 1994 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Rebels Believers Survivors written by Noel Malcolm and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-10 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thanks to its half-century under Communism, as well as its little-known language, Albania has suffered from neglect and a sense of isolation. Yet, as this study helps to show, the Albanian lands have a long history of interaction with others. They have been a meeting-ground of Christianity and Islam; a channel through which Venice connected with the Ottoman Balkans; a place of interest to the Habsburgs; and a focus for the ambitions of neighbouring powers in the late Ottoman period. Albanians themselves could have many different identities. The studies in this volume, by one of the world's leading experts on Albanian history, range from the fifteenth century to the twentieth, taking in politics, social history, religion and diplomacy. Each is based on original research; the longest, on Ali Pasha, uses a wealth of manuscript material to tell, for the first time, the full story of the vital role he played in the international politics of the Napoleonic Wars. Other studies bring to life ordinary individuals hitherto unknown to history: women hauled before the Inquisition, for example, or the author of the first Albanian autobiography. Some of these studies have been printed before (several in hard-to-find publications, and one only in Albanian), but the greater part of this book appears here for the first time. This is not only a landmark publication for readers interested in south-east European history. It also engages with many broader issues, including religious conversion, 'crypto-Christianity' among Muslims, methods of enslavement within the Ottoman Empire, and the nature of modern myth-making about national identity.
Download or read book Albania in a Nutshell written by Robert Elsie and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-02-16 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albania is a small country in southeastern Europe. It is situated on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the southwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula and borders on Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south. 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. Despite its sombre past, Albania is, in essence, a European nation like any other and will soon, it is to be hoped, advance and take its proper place in Europe and the world. This book provides a short overview of the history of Albania for the general reader.
