The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century

I purchased this book for use as a quick reference on the time period and region, fully expecting it to be too dry for sustained reading. I was very pleasantly surprised. This is a lively, interesting account with just the right amount of detail. The author begins with a geographic description of the Balkan region and an overview of its history until about 600 AD. The subsequent history might properly be called "The Origins and Development of the South Slavs". The next decisive event in Balkan history - the Slavic Invasions - is treated in some detail. The Slavs of the time, although numerous, were fragmented and lacked any centralized control. They also fielded an army predominately composed of lightly armed foot soldiers. So foreign tribes of horsemen - The Turkic Bulgars, and the probably Iranian Serbs and Croats - were able to subjugate and dominate groups of Slavs. Since the Slavs were much more numerous, they were ultimately able to assimilate the invaders - but kept their tribal names. The development and history of Bulgaria takes up most of the book, the rest deals with the Serbs, Bosnians, Pannonian Croatians, and Dalmatian Croatians. Other Balkan peoples such as Vlachs and Albanians, who were re-emerging in history at this time, are hardly mentioned at all, nor are the Greeks (I mean the Greeks of Greece, not the Byzantines, who were obviously major participants in the events of this book). The Macedonians Slavs at the time were considered Bulgarians. And the other powers in the area - Hungarians, the afore-mentioned Byzantines, Pechenegs, Cumans, Normans, Venetians, Franks - are mentioned only insofar as they impacted the history of the South Slavs. Which is not to imply this is a bad thing - the resulting history is very tight and focused. The origins of the South Slavs, and the history of Bulgaria, are interesting topics. I found myself wondering why Bulgaria gets so much attention. Part of the reason might be that due to Byzantium's close proximity, this area was better and more decisively documented in the sources. Perhaps this area is of special interest to the author. Upon finishing the book, however, I concluded that the reason for the prominent role of Bulgaria in this narrative is that Bulgaria seems to have established the most powerful and abiding state in this time period. This is an excellent and fascinating narrative, and I find myself looking forward to purchasing the next volume, the continuation of the story into the late Middle Ages.

I think that this book is really simple in vocabulary and in its subject. I really didnt become tired of reading this book so I think that the authors style is very good for the beginners.Another plus for this book is that the author rarely expands its subject from the Balkan History. And the impartial position of the author is another plus.And if you want to learn Balkan history ,Slavic and Turkish(Bulgarian)participation and the stance of the Romans(Europeans insist on Byzantine) this book is the one o the good ones.

A few years ago I became interested in the difficulties in the former Yugoslavia--now Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and a few other entities. After reading a number of contemporary works about the causes of past and current conflicts in the Balkans, I decided none of the authors agreed on every point or many points for that matter, and most seemed a bit biased in their reporting and interpretation of events, probably owing to their inability to attend to the terrible events of the last century and not choose sides. THE EARLY MEDIEVAL BALKANS is the most objective work available about what really happened all those years ago when the Byzantine Empire ruled what is now known as the Balkans, and Serbs, Croatians, Ottoman Turks, and others migrated and/or invaded and settled the area the Italian Romans called Illyria.The book is part of a two-part work covering the Middle Ages in the Balkans. Part I THE EARLY MEDIEVAL BALKANS includes a critical survey of the area from the Sixth to the late Twelfth Century. Part II THE LATE MEDIEVAL BALKANS covers the period from the late Twelfth Century until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in the 14th Century. Fine was a Professor of History at the University of Michigan for a number of years, and his work is incredibly scholarly. He has been considered the leading expert in the world on this topic by his colleagues. I came away from the work with two impressions. The first is that the various ethnic groups who inhabited or invaded the Balkans (and there were so many one loses count after awhile as they migrate or remigrate over and over) were so thoroughly mixed during the Middle Ages that the indigenous tribe, whatever that was, must have disappeared thousands of years ago. The second fact I deduced from Dr. Fine's work is that most if not all the animosity between groups today probably has a basis in religious conflict. Given that the three major religions involved -- Roman Catholic, Orthodox Serb, and Muslim advocate love as an organizing principle, one has to wonder what went wrong.I gave this book 4 stars because it is difficult to read. For a more "fun" read try the series on Byzantium by J.J.Norwich.

I am from Bosnia, of mixed ethnic origins, and after 7 years of exile, I had only faint memories of the history classes dedicated to the Middle Ages (in the 6th grade). This book refreshed my memory, brought a part my past back to me, and helped clear up some misconceptions. It makes me very happy to own it!

I am from Bosnia, of mixed ethnic origins, and after 7 years of exile, I had only faint memories of the history classes dedicated to the Middle Ages (in the 6th grade). This book refreshed my memory, brought a part of my past back to me, and helped clear up some misconceptions. It makes me very happy to own it!