"On past form the Montenegrins could be counted on to be territorially acquisitive," writes Roberts about the post Second World War situation, "and the new leadership soon showed themselves just as ready as the country's traditional rulers to press the case for more land." In this extract she describes how Montenegro came to gain its borders, which since June 2006 have become the frontiers of an independent country.

As early as January 1944 Montenegro was asserting the right to add the Sand