Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History

• Paperback - 14 April, 2005 - Picador
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• By: Robert D Kaplan
• ISBN: 0312424930

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About this book

From the assassination that triggered World War I to the ethnic warfare now sweeping 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.

This enthralling and often chilling political travelogue fully deciphers the Balkans' ancient passions and intractable hatreds for outsiders. For as Kaplan travels among the vibrantly-adorned churches and soul-destroying slums of the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece, he allows us to see the region's history as a time warp in which Slobodan Milosevic becomes the reincarnation of a fourteenth-century Serbian martyr; Nicolae Ceaucescu is called "Drac," or "the Devil"; and the one-time Soviet Union turns out to be a continuation of the Ottoman Empire.

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Reviews by readers

Beautifully written and thoroughly researched

I believe, not all the events that are narrated about in this book are as clear-cut as the author presents them. Nevertheless, the depth of Kaplan's research, the poetry and clearness of his language, as well as a refreshing look at the Balkans makes it a compelling read! Highly recommended!

A reporter's glimpse at the past as reflected in the present times and events of the Balkans

For someone who was born in one of the Balkan countries (Roumania) this book was quite an eye-opener regarding my brith-country's whitewashed recent past history. Equally valuable was learning about the eclectic and diverse cultures and customs of Greece, Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro, Croatia (old Yugoslavia) and Bulgaria. Seven of the 17 chapters are written on Roumania. Four on former Yugoslavia (and its republics), three on Bulgaria and three on Greece. This is a re-print of the 1993 and 1996 editions printed by Vintage.

Robert D. Kaplan, who was a freelance writer for an American paper (at the time of his journeys across the Balkans), stationed in Athens, and married to a Greek woman, embarks on a trek to travel across the Balkans. This journey takes place right after the revolutions that precipitated Communism's "fall" in Eastern Europe. What I liked about Kaplan is that he has done his homework and read the major historical and travel accounts previously written by other travelers and national writers and well known personas. As such, in almost every country he finds the most historical hotels to lodge in, the most interesting regions to spend his time and the most interesting people to talk to.

I would not recommend taking this book as a history book. While it is very good at presenting selected historical facts and little-known trivia (some are very ugly accounts of the past), Kaplan does a good job of encompassing in his writing and his experience talking with folks from this reason of Europe, the meaning of living in the Balkans and what it means to have a "balkanized" complexion.

Enjoy this traveling memoirs and historical tidbits read!

Interesting, but full of misinformation

I picked up the book in the library and I was interested in Romanian history. I only read a few pages to realize the book is full of misinformation. This is true about general things, such as religion. Mr Kaplan says orthodox christianity is mysticism, whereas it's obvious that the religion is at the heart of christianity (unchanged since roman times, unlike catholicism, and I'm not even mentioning the spin-off cults). The only way you could see orthodox christianity as mysticism is from a Jewish perspective, as it's a Judaism spin-off. Even simple facts are distorted. For example, here's a quote that annoyed me:

"Most laborers were prisoners, including political detainees associated with the Jewish intellectual Anna pauker. Gheorghiu-Dej had brutally crushed Pauker's "internationalist" wing of the Communist party, with the assistance of a former cobbler and petty thief from Wallachia, named (the in his mid-thirties) Ceausescu."

Mr Kaplan - Ana Pauker was NOT an intellectual. She did not even finish high school, even if she went to Switzerland to finish it, because it was much easier there. Ana Pauker was a criminal who sent hundreds of thousand of romanians to dig a channel, and subsequently to death because of the miserable conditions. There is no difference between the channel and Nazi concentration camps. These people included most of the romanian intelligentia of the time.

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