LITERARY WALK
A journey through South East Europe with texts and books that we recommend to anybody interested in the region
A project supported by ERSTE Stiftung
These are all books that ESI finds interesting and recommends to our friends. The literary walk, which we are expanding, is a 100 percent noncommercial service: while we ask every publisher for permission, we do not receive any benefit from presenting these books except the joy of sharing our enthusiasm. For any feedback please write to feedback@esiweb.org.
NEW: Istanbul: Food and the frugal Turks ![]() Turkish Letters. 2005. First published by Eland in 2001, this edition, 2005. Ogier de Busbecq |
NEW: Micklagard: Surprising, cosmopolitan Constantinople ![]() Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. 2007. Penguin. Judith Herrin |
NEW: Sukhumi: The history of the region became ashes ![]() Black Sea: Birthplace of Civilisation and Barbarism. 2007. Vintage Books. Neal Ascherson |
NEW: Black Sea: The coming of steam and rail ![]() The Black Sea: A History. 2004. Oxford University Press. Charles King |
NEW: Mestrovic: Motherhood and the Victor ![]() Mestrovic: The Making of a Master. 2008. Stacey International. Maria Mestrovic, edited by Marcus Tanner |
NEW: Rizvanovici, Bosnia: Gnashing ![]() Like Eating a Stone: Surviving the Past in Bosnia. 2008. Portobello Books. Wojciech Tochman. Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones |
NEW: Down the Danube with Magris: Ruse ![]() Danube. 2001. The Harvill Press. First published in Italian in 1986 and this extract taken from the 2001 translated edition. Claudio Magris. Translated by Patrick Creagh |
NEW: From Pristina to Tskhinvali ![]() Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know. 2008. Oxford University Press. Tim Judah |
NEW: Serbia, Historians and Hitler's War ![]() Hitler's New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia. 2008. Hurst. Stevan Pavlowitch |
NEW: Balkan Strongmen: Bulgaria's Zhivkov ![]() Balkan Strongmen: Dictators and Authoritarian Rulers of South Eastern Europe. 2007. Hurst. Ed: Bernd J. Fischer |
NEW: Sarajevo: The Siege Within ![]() Blue Helmets and Black Markets: The Business of Survival in the Siege of Sarajevo. 2008. Cornell University Press. Peter Andreas |
NEW: Durres 1961: Beijing on Sea ![]() Albania . 1963. Praeger in the US and Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Published in German in 1962 and English in 1963. Harry Hamm. Translated by Victor Anderson |
NEW: Cetinje: Eggs for the Ladies ![]() Life and Death in the Balkans: A Family Saga in a Century of Conflict. 2008. Hurst. Bato Tomasevic |
NEW: Bosnia: Land of Immigrants ![]() The History of Bosnia: From the Middle Ages to the Present Day. 2007. Saqi. Marko Attila Hoare |
NEW: Ottoman Croatia ![]() Croatia Through History: The Making of a European State. 2007. Saqi. Branka Magas |
NEW: Harem: All the Sultan's Women ![]() Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire. 1998. Henry Holt. Jason Goodwin |
NEW: Sibiu: Regime Change, European Style ![]() Endgame in the Balkans: Regime Change, European Style. 2006. Brookings. Elizabeth Pond |
NEW: 1929: The Balkans and the Great Crash ![]() History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century. (Volume 2). 1983. Cambridge University Press. Barbara Jelavich |
NEW: Rumeli and how the Balkans became the Balkans ![]() The Balkans. 2000. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group, London. Mark Mazower |
NEW: 1948: Stalin, Kosovo and Swallowing Albania ![]() Conversations with Stalin. 2000. Harcourt Brace. Milovan Djilas |
NEW: Princes Amongst Men ![]() Princes Amongst Men: Journeys with Gypsy Musicians. 2007. Serpent's Tail. Garth Cartwright |
Zamfirovo: Rural livelihoods in the mid-1990s ![]() Domesticating Revolution. From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village. 1998. Pennsylvania State University Press. Gerald W. Creed |
Sofia: Bulgaria's Jews during WWII ![]() A Concise History of Bulgaria. 2005. Cambridge University Press. Richard J. Crampton |
![]() The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. 1992. Cornell University Press. Ivo Banac |
![]() Peacemakers: The Paris Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War. 2003. John Murray. Margaret MacMillan |
![]() The Bosniak: Adil Zulfikarpašić in dialogue with Milovan Djilas and Nadežda Gaće. 1998. Hurst. Milovan Djilas & Nadežda Gaće |
![]() Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism and the Balkans Wars. 2003. Cornell University Press. Paul Hockenos |
![]() Why Angels Fall: A Journey Through Orthodox Europe From Byzantium to Kosovo. 2000. MacMillan. Victoria Clark |
![]() Queen of Roumania: The life of Princess Marie, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria. 1989. Trans-Atlantic Publications. Hannah Pakula |
![]() The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. 1992. Cornell University Press. Ivo Banac |
Istanbul: Swimming across the Bosphorus ![]() Crescent and Star – Turkey between two worlds. 2001. Farrar Straus Giroux. Stephen Kinzer |
The Kotor - Constantinople Express ![]() Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro. 2007. Hurst. Elizabeth Roberts |
Pristina: Kosovo like Namibia? ![]() A Paper House: The Ending of Yugoslavia. 1992. Vintage. Mark Thompson |
![]() With God, For the People. Laszlo Tokes, as told to David Porter. 1990. Hodder & Stoughton. Laszlo Tokes |
Mealtime - Interwar years in Travnik ![]() Peasant Life in Jugoslavia. 1941. Seeley, Service & Co. Olive Lodge |
Novi Sad: Nest of the Serbian nation ![]() The Mountains of Serbia: Travels through Inland Yugoslavia. 1977. Readers Union. Anne Kindersley |
![]() Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions that Forged Modern Greece and Turkey. 2006. Granta Books. Bruce Clark |
![]() Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950. 2005. Harper Perennial. Mark Mazower |
![]() This is Serbia Calling: Rock 'n' roll radio and Belgrade's underground resistance. 2001. Serpent's Tail. Matthew Collin |
![]() King Zog of Albania: Europe's Self-Made Muslim Monarch. 2004. New York University Press. Jason Tomes |
City without traffic - Pristina 1966 ![]() Kosova-Kosovo: Prelude to War 1966-1999. 1999. Redland Pr Inc. Mary Motes |
- Andrej Mitrovic: Serbia's Great War: 1914-1918. 2007. Hurst.
- Andrew Mango: The Turks Today. 2004. John Murray.
- Anne Kindersley: The Mountains of Serbia: Travels through Inland Yugoslavia. 1977. Readers Union.
- Barbara Jelavich: History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century. (Volume 2). 1983. Cambridge University Press.
- Bato Tomasevic: Life and Death in the Balkans: A Family Saga in a Century of Conflict. 2008. Hurst.
- Branka Magas: Croatia Through History: The Making of a European State. 2007. Saqi.
- Bruce Clark: Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions that Forged Modern Greece and Turkey. 2006. Granta Books.
- Caroline Finkel: Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923. 2006. John Murray.
- Charles King: The Black Sea: A History. 2004. Oxford University Press.
- Chuck Sudetic: Blood and Vengeance: One Family's Story of the War in Bosnia. 1998. W. W. Norton.
- Claudio Magris. Translated by Patrick Creagh: Danube. 2001. The Harvill Press. First published in Italian in 1986 and this extract taken from the 2001 translated edition.
- Ed: Bernd J. Fischer: Balkan Strongmen: Dictators and Authoritarian Rulers of South Eastern Europe. 2007. Hurst.
- Edith Durham: High Albania. 2000. Phoenix Press, London.
- Edmund Stillman: The Balkans. 1966. Time Incorporated.
- Elizabeth Pond: Endgame in the Balkans: Regime Change, European Style. 2006. Brookings.
- Elizabeth Roberts: Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro. 2007. Hurst.
- Emir Suljagic: Postcards from the Grave. 2005. Saqi/The Bosnian Institute.
- Fitzroy MacLean: Eastern Approaches. 2004. Penguin Global.
- Fodor: Fodor's Modern Guides: Yugoslavia. 1966. MacGibbon & Kee.
- Gail Warrander & Verena Knaus: Kosovo. 2007. Bradt Guides.
- Garth Cartwright: Princes Amongst Men: Journeys with Gypsy Musicians. 2007. Serpent's Tail.
- Georgina Masson: The Companion Guide to Rome. 2006. Companion Guides.
- Gerald W. Creed: Domesticating Revolution. From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village. 1998. Pennsylvania State University Press.
- Hannah Pakula: Queen of Roumania: The life of Princess Marie, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria. 1989. Trans-Atlantic Publications.
- Harry Hamm. Translated by Victor Anderson: Albania . 1963. Praeger in the US and Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Published in German in 1962 and English in 1963.
- Ivo Banac: The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. 1992. Cornell University Press.
- Jason Tomes: King Zog of Albania: Europe's Self-Made Muslim Monarch. 2004. New York University Press.
- Jason Goodwin: Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire. 1998. Henry Holt.
- Jean-Marie Domenach & Alain Pontault: Yugoslavia. 1962. Vista Books.
- John Reed: War in Eastern Europe: Travels Through the Balkans in 1915. 1994. Phoenix.
- Judith Herrin: Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. 2007. Penguin.
- Laszlo Tokes: With God, For the People. Laszlo Tokes, as told to David Porter. 1990. Hodder & Stoughton.
- Marcus Tanner: Croatia: A Nation Forged in War. 1997. Yale University Press.
- Margaret MacMillan: Peacemakers: The Paris Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War. 2003. John Murray.
- Maria Mestrovic, edited by Marcus Tanner: Mestrovic: The Making of a Master. 2008. Stacey International.
- Mark Mazower: Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950. 2005. Harper Perennial.
- Mark Thompson: A Paper House: The Ending of Yugoslavia. 1992. Vintage.
- Marko Attila Hoare: The History of Bosnia: From the Middle Ages to the Present Day. 2007. Saqi.
- Mary Motes: Kosova-Kosovo: Prelude to War 1966-1999. 1999. Redland Pr Inc.
- Matthew Collin: This is Serbia Calling: Rock 'n' roll radio and Belgrade's underground resistance. 2001. Serpent's Tail.
- Milovan Djilas: Conversations with Stalin. 2000. Harcourt Brace.
- Milovan Djilas & Nadežda Gaće: The Bosniak: Adil Zulfikarpašić in dialogue with Milovan Djilas and Nadežda Gaće. 1998. Hurst.
- Misha Glenny: The Balkans 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers. 1999. Granta Books.
- Neal Ascherson: Black Sea: Birthplace of Civilisation and Barbarism. 2007. Vintage Books.
- Ogier de Busbecq: Turkish Letters. 2005. First published by Eland in 2001, this edition, 2005.
- Olive Lodge: Peasant Life in Jugoslavia. 1941. Seeley, Service & Co.
- Orhan Pamuk: Istanbul: Memories and the City. 2005. Faber & Faber.
- Paul Hockenos: Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism and the Balkans Wars. 2003. Cornell University Press.
- Peter Andreas: Blue Helmets and Black Markets: The Business of Survival in the Siege of Sarajevo. 2008. Cornell University Press.
- Peter Nasmyth: Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry. 2006. Routledge.
- Richard Holbrooke: To End a War. 1999. The Modern Library, Random House.
- Richard J. Crampton: A Concise History of Bulgaria. 2005. Cambridge University Press.
- Robert Donia: Sarajevo: A Biography. 2006. Hurst.
- Robin Harris: Dubrovnik: A History. 2006. Saqi Books.
- Rosie Whitehouse: Are We There Yet? Travels With My Frontline Family. 2007. Reportage Press.
- Stephen Kinzer: Crescent and Star – Turkey between two worlds. 2001. Farrar Straus Giroux.
- Stephen Schwartz: Sarajevo Rose: A Balkan Jewish Notebook. 2005. Saqi/The Bosnian Institute.
- Stevan Pavlowitch: Hitler's New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia. 2008. Hurst.
- Tim Judah: Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know. 2008. Oxford University Press.
- Victoria Clark: Why Angels Fall: A Journey Through Orthodox Europe From Byzantium to Kosovo. 2000. MacMillan.
- Wendell Steavenson: Stories I Stole: From Georgia. 2002. Atlantic Books.
- Wojciech Tochman. Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones: Like Eating a Stone: Surviving the Past in Bosnia. 2008. Portobello Books.