The Gypsies (Peoples of Europe)

Rating:
Summary: The Gypsies (People of Europ)
Review: A little dry at first, but there is lots of information here. If you are interested in this subject, you will enjoy this book, but you have to force yourself to keep reading at times.

Rating:
Summary: The Gypsies (People of Europ)
Review: A little dry at first, but there is lots of information here. If you are interested in this subject, you will enjoy this book, but you have to force yourself to keep reading at times.

Rating:
Summary: An important account
Review: An epic account of the Gypsies. Although shallow on some details and not current enough in terms of looking at contemporary populations this survey of Gypsy history is an important account. Although the author does not fully explain the origins of the Romani and he does connect the importance of the `wandering Jew' stereotype to the gypsy phenomenon this book does give a complete account of relations with and among the Gypsies from their original immigration to Europe to the present. Gypsy's are present in every major European country, and in some eastern European countries they makes up a large percentage of the population. Poor and wretched the Gypsies are phenomenally misunderstood and understudied, unlike the Jewish Diaspora which is well documented due to Jewish literary traditions and academic heritage the Gypsy's are a people lost to words and a people that deserve books like this one chronicling their ways and customs and plights. One factual error may be present in this book, in an early chapter the author assumes the description `Egyptians' applies to Gypsy's, the authors conjecture is most likely incorrect as `Egyptian' probably meant `Arab' or North African muslim. A minor error that should not detract from the book as a whole.

Rating:
Summary: An important account
Review: An epic account of the Gypsies. Although shallow on some details and not current enough in terms of looking at contemporary populations this survey of Gypsy history is an important account. Although the author does not fully explain the origins of the Romani and he does connect the importance of the 'wandering Jew' stereotype to the gypsy phenomenon this book does give a complete account of relations with and among the Gypsies from their original immigration to Europe to the present. Gypsy's are present in every major European country, and in some eastern European countries they makes up a large percentage of the population. Poor and wretched the Gypsies are phenomenally misunderstood and understudied, unlike the Jewish Diaspora which is well documented due to Jewish literary traditions and academic heritage the Gypsy's are a people lost to words and a people that deserve books like this one chronicling their ways and customs and plights. One factual error may be present in this book, in an early chapter the author assumes the description 'Egyptians' applies to Gypsy's, the authors conjecture is most likely incorrect as 'Egyptian' probably meant 'Arab' or North African muslim. A minor error that should not detract from the book as a whole.

Rating:
Summary: Informative, but lacking first person insights.
Review: I am glad I read this book--for the most part it provided what I was after. It gives a good overview of Gypsie history from what is thought to be their beginnings to the present. I was disapointed that Gypsie migration to the US is only briefly mentioned, with nothing on the status of contemporary Gypsie life here. I was very disapointed that the author could not personalize what the Gypsies went through. I realize that due to the high levels of Gypsie illiteracy, there may not be much in the way of journals, etc. However, something could have been done to personalize their experience. For instance, the author goes in to too much detail about laws enacted by European Countries to deal with Gypsies, but does not discuss how these harsh laws affected them personally. I know more about Gypsies as a group, but nothing about them as individuals.

Rating:
Summary: Great book about history of nation
Review: One of the greatest books about Gypsies I've ever read. Fraser is skilful historian with necessary distance from controversial theme of his analysis. Only if you're looking for insight of individuals, you won't be satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This is a wonderful book for those interested in the history of the Roma. It does generalize some of the finer points of the history, but it still works because of the fact that the author had to deal with so much information to put into one book. If you can only buy one book on the history of the gypsies, this is the one!