Badlands-Borderland: A History of Southern Albania/Northern Epirus [Hardcover]

T.J. Winnifrith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

Opposite Corfu one can see the mountains of Southern Albania, always difficult to visit, and especially so in the Communist period from 1944 to 1992. This area is called Northern Epirus by the Greeks, and contains many monuments of Greek and Roman civilization, such as those at Apollonia and Butrint. There are also relics of the Illyrians, claimed by the Albanians to be their ancestors. In the sixth century the Slavs invaded, but the district was re-captured by the Byzantines in the tenth century.
There were attacks from the West in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a period of anarchy until the Ottoman invasion in the fifteenth. Slavic place names, Byzantine churches, and artistic monuments of the Ottoman period are a tribute to this complicated heritage, as are the inhabitants of the area, who still speak Slavic, Greek and Latin dialects as well as Albanian. Balkan wars and world wars have added to the confusion that the book aims to disentangle, while showing through its photographs the beauty of a largely unknown part of the world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

T.J . Winnifrith has traveled extensively in Albania, even in the difficult days before the collapse of Communist rule in 1992, and elsewhere in the Balkans. He is the author of The Vlachs and Shattered Eagles: Balkan Fragments, both published by Duckworth. He was a lecturer at the University of Warwick from 1970 to 1999.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Duckworth Publishers (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715632019
• ISBN-13: 978-0715632017
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,003,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I am biased, but so is this book, July 28, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: Badlands-Borderland: A History of Southern Albania/Northern Epirus (Hardcover)

I knew when I ordered this book it would be from a particular point of view and even though it was not as extreme as I expected, it was true to form. The author here regards himself as a true student of the Balkans and Byzantine history, unlike others before him. He states early on that he is a Vlachophile and that if there is one Vlach speaker in a village it is labeled as being Vlach by him. And here lies his flaw.

Winnifruth may be a good historian, by this I mean the ability to gather lots of information, but his writing is style is confusing. The chapters are broken down in to time periods, but he will jump ahead to vaildate a point which can be very confusing and names and facts are crammed all together. His main anchor for ethnicity is language, but most of his ideas are assumptions and rules can change when he chooses. One case in point is that if Greek writing is found in ruins located in modern Albania then the people must have been Greek, but it is never taken into account that Greek was the written language at the time and it makes sense that the Greek alphabet would be used. At one point he mentions the Chams of Greece (He calls them by the Greek Tsam). They are labeled as Albanian speaking Muslims. If language is his guide these people are Albanian not Albanian speaking. Another point is the Arvanit community in Greece that is associated as being Greek, but only spoke Albanian a hundred years ago. Here language does not show what the comminuty sees itself as. Another point is the assumption of ethnicity of historical figures by their name and even thinking they are pure in their background. Names mean nothing and are written according to what a writer feels sound better. Mary was orginally Meriam, John Cabot was born Giovanni Cabato. So names me very little. Skenderbeg has the following names... Gjergj Kastrioti (alb), Jorgos Kastriotis (grk), Giorgio Castrioti (Ita). All depends on who is doing the writing.

I do get the feeling that he is less that loving towards Albanians and very much enamored with Vlach/Hellenic culture. Best part of this book is it's a book and all sources must be read to better understand a subject. And I give him credit for having tried to be unbias, but it does show. There are points where he tries to be fair and steps away from some of the insane biased statements out there

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars the misguidance continues, August 13, 2003

By 

Isak (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Badlands-Borderland: A History of Southern Albania/Northern Epirus (Hardcover)

It is no news flash that Albanias neighbors have greedily been quarreling amongst themselves and with Albanians over its land for the pas X amount of years. The book market has overflown with material on the topic usually from bias religious or nationalistic inspired authors, and since Albania and Albanians haven't had the best conditions in trying to achieve their research being published, one may guess that the biases stand against them. It is also undeniable that the Albanians, descendants clearly of the Illyrians (no other nationality comes close to having so many corresponding traits to them as the Albanians do)are a separate nation, with a separate culture and ethinicity to those that surround them. If all of this is agreed upon, this book has no relevance in disputes over territory between Albania and Greece, or any other nation for that matter.

To base an opinion of territory simply on the language spoken is proposterous by any true historian. This would mean that the thousands of Albanian Arberesh (as they are referred to) who left Albania in the Middle Ages to escape Ottoman opression and now inhabit large parts of Calabria in Scily, Italy and still preserve the Albanian language and customs may claim that part of Italy for Albania! Not likely, and nothing they say or recite in any language would be compelling for any Italian or any individual belonging to any nation to award that land to Albania.

Regardless of those flaws which is the essence of this book, there are many usuful facts that are presented by the author throught his detailed events. Worth a read maybe, but it should definately not be your first book on the topic as it is immensly misleading.