A Concise Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe

Hupchick and Cox provide a stunning array of maps from the late Roman Empire (300 AD) all the way up to the modern era, 1991. Most importantly, on the page opposite the map, they provide a one page historical summary of events and changes which occured at the time the map was current. You get insight into the changing size and shape of many countries, from the Balkans and Greece, through Romania and Hungary, up to and including Poland, with a little bit of information about Byelorussia and the Ukraine. There is a precise synopsis of what changes occured. There is a great map showing the migration of the Slavic peoples into their respective current homelands. You get a good understanding of basic European history, such as how the brothers Cyril and Melodius, two missionaries traveled and devised a written alphabet for the Slavic people. You discover how Boris of Bulgaria in 865 AD decided to convert to Christianity to become part of the European Christian community and the reason, to stave off invasion by the Franks and to prevent extermination by Byzantium. The rise of Hungary, in the 10th - 13th century, is described along with a map of "Greater Hungary" ("Nagy Magyarorszag") of the past. We learn how King St. Laszlo supported the papacy for protection and also conquered Croatia-Slavonia and Bosnia ... gaining access to the Adriatic Sea. The rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire and the great nationalism which developed during the 19th century is fully revealed. This book should be required reading for anyone wanting to come to grips with "the Macedonian question" and understand some of the reasons behind the Balkan Wars. This book holds the key to understanding the roots of modern day conflicts within Central, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The Trianon Treaty which divided Hungary and isolated the Magyars in Transylvania from their nation post World War I is reviewed from a just and fair perspective.The book is written for scholars, as well as the public at large. It provides a concise and superb overview of the most important details of issues which haunt this region of the world. Anyone looking for a good summary of the reasons behind the changing face and shape of Europe, anyone needing to know about the wars and conflicts which are the backbone of the political and historical problems existing today should buy this book. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Hupchcik and Cox have put together a great set of fifty maps tracking Eastern European history from the Roman Empire to the contemporary period. These maps are very useful as aids for the student, or to accompany the serious reader of any historical text. Each map has a facing page of detailed explanatory material, which is uniformly strong throughout. Of particular value, with exceptional text, are the depiction of the Roman Empire (#5) and the various maps of Istanbul and the Ottomans (#11, 22, 24, 25). The Balkan Wars and First World War are explained with particular clarity, making sense of these complicated affairs in brief paragraphs.Two quibbles: the book misplaces the Croatian/Serbian border, giving a piece of Croatia along the Danube (the Baranja region) to the Serbs. I'm sure this is a mere oversight, but the fact that this territory was the subject of a brutal war within the past decade should have given the authors reason to be more careful. Also, while the book was published in late 1996, the final map is dated 1991, thus there is no discussion of the complicated series of wars that attended the breakup of Yugoslavia. Certainly a second edition would be of more use to readers with a map or two on these events.

This book was designed by university professors and their main goal was to create a set of maps to accompany a course on Eastern European history. The region depicted is the area between Germany and Italy on the west and Ukraine and Belarus on the east. My first disappointment in this book is that although described as an atlas of Eastern Europe, the authors leave out Ukraine, Belarus and Russia as well as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Thus I feel the title is misleading.The two-color outline maps are a little bit of a disappointment in their simplicity, but they meet the instructional goals set by the authors and admirably illustrate the historic events described on the facing pages. Four Introductory Maps (Political, Physical, Demographic, and Cultural) help the reader to interpret the historic maps that follow. Also, a two page Selected Bibliography provide ample English language resources for further study.The book is divided into five broad historical eras with from six to twelve maps in each. Each map is accompanied by text on the facing page that describes the historic events of the period illustrated. I can see this as being a very valuable reference tool for anyone reading a history of this region. Rather than use it as a reference to other readings I read the book straight through and found that the progression of text is well done and readable. It makes a very good introduction to the history of the region. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a broad historical survey of the region.

Anyone who studies or just has a passing interest in East Central and Southeastern Europe is well aware of the often confusing political geography of this region caused by frequent wars, invasions, conquests, re-conquests and the break-up of larger ethnically diverse empires and states. The maps are simple, yet they provide a great deal of detail, i.e. the name and borders of various regions, administrative districts within empires or states, city names, etc. The maps go from the Roman era to modern times, and there are also very helpful demographic and physical maps at the beginning. All maps are accompanied by concise texts explaining the various historical events which led to the constant changes in the region's geopolitical fortunes. These texts are also a worthy attempt at providing a comprehensive summary of the region's history. This atlas is an ideal tool for the study of Eastern Europe; college students will find it invaluable. If nothing else, every reporter, correspondent and photo-journalist working in the region should have a copy of this with them when working in the region.