Bulgaria Books

John D. Bell provides perhaps the best account of the history of the Bulgarian Communist Party available in English. Together with Richard Crampton's history of Bulgaria, it is also the best scholarly source of more general Bulgarian history in the 20th century. A must for anyone studying Bulgaria. The book uses interviews of dissidents who fled Bulgaria during the years of communist domination to supplement available archival sources. The result is a magnificently documented narrative that brings to light some controversial and unclear episodes in the history of Bulgarian communism. The book demonstrates, for example, that Zhivkov's power was not unchallenged and that internal dissent, even if it came from the Party or the armed forces, existed even here, in the country widely considered to have been the closest Soviet ally and follower. The book also demonstrates the reciprocity of alliance politics within the Soviet bloc. Challenging the existing convention, John Bell demonstrates that relations within the Warsaw pact were not unidirectional. The Soviet Union responded to various interests of the Bulgarian leadership and often helped their advancement. In addition, the book is thoroughly readable and, provides impartial insight into the almost century-old history of the Bulgarian labor movement and its political organizations.

John D. Bell provides perhaps the best account of the history of the Bulgarian Communist Party available in English. Together with Richard Crampton's history of Bulgaria, it is also the best scholarly source of more general Bulgarian history in the 20th century. A must for anyone studying Bulgaria. The book uses interviews of dissidents who fled Bulgaria during the years of communist domination to supplement available archival sources. The result is a magnificently documented narrative that brings to light some controversial and unclear episodes in the history of Bulgarian communism. The book demonstrates, for example, that Zhivkov's power was not unchallenged and that internal dissent, even if it came from the Party or the armed forces, existed even here, in the country widely considered to have been the closest Soviet ally and follower. The book also demonstrates the reciprocity of alliance politics within the Soviet bloc. Challenging the existing convention, John Bell demonstrates that relations within the Warsaw pact were not unidirectional. The Soviet Union responded to various interests of the Bulgarian leadership and often helped their advancement. In addition, the book is thoroughly readable and, provides impartial insight into the almost century-old history of the Bulgarian labor movement and its political organizations.

I'm an anthropology student at Hunter College in New York. Professor Creed teaches here, and this semester I took his "Families and Households in Anthropology" Class. He's an amazing professor, and I look forward to reading this book. If his class reflects anything in the book, I am sure it will be great!

Once you get by some of the academic gobbledygook, this book delivers great insight into the challenges of a Bulgarian village making the economic transition. Creed has obviously 'lived the life' there, as opposed to just parachuting in for a couple weeks. I lived there too and can attest to the veracity of his observations. This is about the best book I can think of for anyone who wants to really know about the people and lifestyle of Bulgaria over the last 40 years.

Rice makes reading an ethnography a pleasure. All ethnomusicologists seeking to undertake their own writing project ought to read this book first. His accounts about studying with Kostadin make you feel like you were there learning the gaida, too. Rice's model makes a good case for learning an instrument while conducting fieldwork. Particulary insightful is the author's interpretation of the emic/etic distinction as it relates to the ethnomusicologist.

If you have the slightest interest in music, Eastern Europe in transition, and intellectual thought, then you owe it to yourself to read this book. Proper obeisance is made to the academic gods - Ricoeur, Clifford, Bourdieu, Geertz, Gadamer and the rest - and the references are sincere and thoughtful. But most of all you will be enthralled by Rice's personal account of his discovery of Bulgarian music, and of the lives of a wonderful couple who perform that music and became not just his 'informants' but his friends, indeed his family. The book is personal, revelatory, and stimulating. If only all musical scholarship were this good!

The Red Riviera is a detailed, ethnographically rich study of the transition away from communism in Bulgaria, compellingly told through the eyes of women employed in the tourism industry. The book is short enough to assign for an undergraduate class and is written in a clear and accessible prose that is free from too much academic jargon. At the same time, the arguments advanced in the book are fascinating and controversial enough to inspire interesting and engaged discussions. In addition to exploring the details of the daily lives of men and women experiencing economic transformation, the book deals with how cultural capital gets revalued after socialism, and the relationship between Western feminist NGOs and women's organizing. A very good contribution to the literature of postsocialist cultural studies.

The Red Riviera tells the engaging story of an economic, historical, and cultural revolution with a "ground level" focus on the lives of several women working within the tourist industry in Bulgaria. The portraits of these stereotype-defying women reveal a picture of far greater complexity than the statistical studies of the economic outcome of certain populations after the fall of communism. In a uniquely neutral look at life before and after the fall of the state run communist regime in Bulgaria, Ghodsee shines light not only on the good and bad points of communism vs. capitalism, but also on the way that the communist system inadvertently prepared some members of its society (exemplified by these women working in the tourist industry) to thrive after the advent of capitalism, while other members were utterly unprepared for the sudden change in "the rules", and floundered when the communist system that supported them collapsed.

The book is fascinating as a study of the dynamics of the change from communism to capitalism. However, the real beauty of the book is the sheer delight of reading it. Ghodsee maintains the rigor of an academic study but writes with the clarity and rich descriptiveness of an entertaining work of fiction. The result is a book that races along as if it were a novel- the story of a major economic and cultural revolution, as seen through its focus on the lives of these intriguing women.

In short, highly recommended!

This is the first book that captures the unique culture of Thrace through extensive photographs of ancient treasures from museums throughout Bulgaria. I am happy to see that all photographs are accompanied with captions providing a wealth of information about the objects as well as info in which museums they can be seen. The preface details the history, culture, and religion of Thrace, and it's filled with fascinating facts. It gives you deeper understanding of the political and cultural complexity of the ancient world and the relationships among Thracians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, etc. There is a timetable at the end that conviniently displays the various periods in the development of Thrace parallel to famous world events.

Needless to say, the book is a must for everybody interested in ancient history. It also makes a great coffee table book, unique and fascinating like Thrace itself.

Palairet's contribution to the Balkan Economic history is the sixth volume of the Cambridge Studies in Modern Economic history series. The series are described as a new initiative in the writing of the economic history dictated by the concerns of the history of economic performance, output and productivity with a direct reference to the evolutions and impacts of economic growth or stagnation. The volumes are mentioned as written in line with the mainstream of the series. As far as Palairet's volume is concerned, his outcome, which is basically derived from a long term comparative analysis of the performance of the Balkan economies, reconciles with this phenomenon. His deductive, in-depth study of the Balkan economies from early 19th century until 1914, suggests a deploring performance rather than growth, though agricultural production steadily increased, a level of industrialisation attained, nevertheless per capita output and income never caught up the levels of the pre-modern and pre-liberation times. The pre-liberation times overlapped with the sovereignty of the Ottoman rule for most of the Balkan states except Serbia enjoying an independent status after 1815. Such a long term overall comparative analysis requires periodization which is strictly reflected in the chapter formation of the book. During the period under consideration, Balkan economies had passed through two institutional transformation, the first being the breakdown of the Ottoman decentralised administrative structre, which was major push effect of the Balkan economic growth and the second, the emergence of the independent balkan states which curtailed down the economic development. Agriculture production had severely been hit by the subsistence farming, already set up by the self governments to establish a peasant power base for the new regime. The textile proto-industries could not be able to sustain out-put levels and the market share of the pre-liberation era. I do really impressed by the author's in-depth analysis of the Balkan economies, utilising both the qualitative and the quantitative data, covering almost, as far as we assume, all the primary and secondary sources on Balkan Economic History. Essential feature of the book is to indicate how contraversial is to associate Ottoman political structre with stagnation, underdevelopment and retrogression.

Published by the Allies' most respected historians on the eve of World War I, this book served as a backgrounder on one of Europe's key trouble spots. Still a superb overview of a region which remains unsettled to this day.
The book discusses the history of the major Balkan nationalities. It describes the differing conditions experienced under Ottoman and Habsburg rule, but the main emphasis is on the national movements, their successes and failures to 1900, and the place of events in the Balkans in the international relations of the day. This masterfully crafted eBook faithfully preserves the 1916 revised second edition.

The Bradt Guide to Bulgaria, written by Dr Annie Kay, is the most comprehensive guide yet to this beautiful, rapidly changing, country in the far South East corner of Europe. Annie is a historian, a tour guide, an ornithologist, a nature lover and now a part-time resident in Bulgaria. Her interests are reflected in the book; there are beautiful colour photographs of buildings, birds and butterflies, explanations of the historical issues facing Bulgaria (eg the Macedonian question), up-to-date maps, tourist and travel information and even a section on how to purchase property in Bulgaria (citing her own flat purchase as a case study). Annie manages to capture the flavour of the people through their culture such that you can imagine the tobacco drying, the traditional costumes, the 'horo' dances and festival days celebrated in the imposing mountains. This book achieves so much more than being a guide for skiers and beach lovers, although they too will be well directed in their holidays. Annie uncovers the variety of delights in Bulgaria - from the gorges and the mountains to the plains and the beaches. I strongly recommend this encyclopaedic book to accompany you if you are to extract the gems on offer in this beautiful, fascinating country.

DK makes the best travel guides. As simple as that. Every time I am about to travel I purchase one of their books. They also have smaller books that you can carry with you, the "top 10" series. I highly recommend those as well!

The books represents a comprehensive, English-language listing of the revenue (fiscal) stamps and stamped paper issued by Romania and Bulgaria, as well as connected territories (e.g. Bucovina and Transylvania locals, Eastern Roumelia etc).
Brief details regarding the historical circumstances surrounding the issues were also provided. The book should be of interest to collectors of Romania and Bulgaria stamps, but also to other philatelists or simply people interested in the history of the region (who may consider starting a collection).

Finally, I should mention that after publication the book was awarded several medals at national and international level philatelic exhibitions. These include: vermeil medals at Chicagopex (2004) and Timisoara (2004) and silver medals at Napex (2005) and the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition.