Kosovo: A Short History

I rarely type in all caps, but given the falsehoods of 1- and 2- star reviewers, it's necessary in the headline. Malcolm shows a great deal of background knowledge, and interpretive skills of such knowledge, on the history of Kosovo, even before the Serb-myth cornerstone battle of Kosovo in 1389. (Amongst his control of the subject, he makes a good argument for "Second Kosovo," in 1448, actually being more important to the history of both Kosovo and Serbia proper.) Result? He's able to show the strong Albanian core of Kosovo, despite Serbian claims to the contrary. He also shows a good deal of knowledge of linguistics, making a tentative lean toward identifying the roots of Albanian being an Illyrian language. He also touches on the likely Vlach ancestry of modern Rumanian. But, here as in other cases, he will label such identifications as tentative when they are; he avoids overstating claims. Back to the core of the book, though. Malcolm is careful to distinguish between language and ethnicity, or religion and ethnicity. As Albania, the country, as well as Albanians in Kosovo, have/has a notable Catholic minority, as well as its Orthodox one, and the Muslim majority, these distinctions are important in skirting Serbian minefields. So, too, is sorting out myth from reality behind the first battle of Kosovo, claims of an organizated mass migration of Serbians across the Danube, etc. Back to the negative reviews. Given a long history of various degrees of Serb propaganda over Kosovo and related things, the number of these reviews show that Malcolm has done something right. Read for yourself and see.

The history of Kosovo is very complex. Other writers on Kosovo are quite biased which often makes their work less valuable. Noel Malcolm, however, writes un-biased and entertaining about a difficult subject - his book can be read right through and is also working quite well as a manual about Kosovo. This was the book I took to bed in Pristina in the summer of -99- and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a simple (if not so short) history of Kosovo. However, if you are looking for an analysis of the strategic role of Kosovo in the Balkans on the border between East and West, you will have to go elsewhere. Malcolms task is the history of Kosovo itself - a task he solves to perfection.

Mr.Malcolm clearly exposes in his work the deceptive cycle of premeditated historical misconceptions. He effectively analizes claims of both Serb and Albanian on this land. He then methodically provides the reader with a clear and concise account of 'real' events as they had occurred.Cting the present actuallity of this region as the result of the ever strong negative rewriting of history of the Serbs as serving there socio-political agenda then and now. It is a comprehensive work which I suggest all who are interested in the Balkans and the "Balkan Mind" should read this book. It clearly provides a textbook methodolgy to how history in the minds of the Serbs is not only used a reference to the past but also as a pretext to a desired albeit chaotic, danderous and murderous future.

Remarkable for its thoroughness in its research. Malcolm has dug up many documented sources that seem not to have seen the light of day for some time. According to Malcolm, "there is not a single library, in Western Europe or even in the Balkans, that offers all the relevant materials under one roof." That is a tragedy. But it goes along way to explaining the distortions of the region's history. The citation list for this book is a virtual tour of libraries and holdings in the cities and towns of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires and those of the Great Powers of the 19th century. Again this isn't surprising as a great deal of the historical mythology was created during the last half of the 19th century. "Kosovo: a short history" is remarkable in its clear, readable prose. This is not a dull text. And the region and its history should have been better known to the West. Right through the book, well-known historical figures make cameo appearances. My favourite was a fellow who in 1912 or 1913 was " shocked by the evidence he encountered of atrocities by Serbian and Bulgarian forces." The fellow would later become better known as Leon Trotsky. But the book is full of these oddities. It isn't surpising. Look at a map and Kosovo was an overland route to the Middle East - and a bulwark of the Ottoman Empire against Western and Central Europe: Christian Europe. I should have known all this much earlier, but - like most western educated historians - I didn't pay enough attention.

I would like to begin by congratulating Mr. Malcolm for a most informative presentation of the history of Kosova past and present. I view this work as an objective account of the situation and suggest this book as a must read for those interested in Southeastern Europe. He shatters the Serbian mythological approach to Balkan history. As an example, Malcolm clarifies the issue of the Slavic arrival to the Balkans which occured in the 7th century. In comparison the Illyrians-Albanians inhabited these areas long before the arrival of the Slavs as is well accepted by the academic world. It was well noted that since 1913 the Serbs have occupied Albanian lands and have directed their efforts towards the objective of the expulsion of the Albanian people.