Yugoslavia as History : Twice there was a Country

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Summary: An economic historian's perspective
Review: Although this is a general history of Yugoslavia, from ancient times up to 1992, the analysis reflects the fact that Lampe is first and foremost an economic historian.

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Summary: A commendable survey
Review: Lampe's "Yugoslavia as History" is probably the first book that deals with the entire history of Yugoslavia from its inception in 1918 to its collapse in 1991. While discussing pre-1918 developments and (very summarily) post-1991 events, he focuses his discussion on Yugoslavia as it actually existed, doing a commendable job of viewing past events on their own terms rather than through the prism of present-day events (the primary flaw of many recent historical works written both by former Yugoslav and outside scholars, commentators, etc.). Lampe's primary expertise is economic history, and this is evident in his strong analysis of Yugoslavia's frequent economic problems, which would be a crucial factor in the country's eventual downfall. However, this means he often gives short shrift to the cultural, social and intellectual antagonisms which gave expression to the country's underlying problems. Also, while socialist Yugoslavia's decentralized political structure did foment the development of separate economic, social and intellectual cultures, there were also many factors that bound Yugoslav citizens and did create a some sense of community (he only touches on sports and film, but almost completely ignores literature and pop music). Indeed, this appearance of a rudimentary common culture was what made Yugoslavia's violent breakdown so shocking to people in the county itself and to outside experts. Even so, "Yugoslavia as History" is a very strong survey of the country's troubled history and a very useful resource for students and others - it is much, much better and more informative than the many "instant histories" (a term I think Lampe himself used in a journal article) which appeared in droves once Yugoslavia did break up and the war started. The book is also, by the way, a very good reflection and summary of the main streams of American historiography on the former Yugoslavia.

Rating:
Summary: weak in some areas
Review: while john r. lampe's book is accurate and very readable, Iwould still like to point out some problems. the main one is, that theauthor deals with slovenians and macedonians very briefly, more like an afterthought. as a slovenian, I may feel a bit strongly about it, but I would like to give two examples: there is no mention of the isonzo front (first world war, between italy and austro-hungary), which went on for twelve battles and has its own novel (and film) - farwell to arms. also, the ossimo accords, which finalized the border between yugoslavia (now slovenia) and italy are not mentioned -and they are important, since italy used them to present all sorts of obstacles to slovenia after 1991. the book is still very much worth reading, but keep in mind that the slovenians (and I imagine the macedonians) are not given the adequate space. read something else as well!