Customer Reviews

Dubrovnik: A History

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Simply put this is a must have book for any person interested in Croatian history, especially the city of Dubrovnik (the Croatian Athens). The author pulls together his information from an exhaustive list of mostly non-English resources and puts them together in a very orderly and interesting manner. The author brings life to the history of Dubrovnik (not that he would need to) which makes for a very interesting and easy read. I personally loved this book from beginning to end and can only hope the author produces more books on Croatian history (perhaps the next one could tackle the history of Split?). Overall, an excellent piece of work and a great price for a book that should be in every serious Croatian historian's library.

For the last ten years Dubrovnik, a gem of a city on the Adriatic coast, has been an increasingly popular tourist attraction. The fortified old town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the beaches, the cuisine and the friendly people make Dubrovnik well worth a visit. Visitors will enjoy their stay even more if they are aware of the city's rich history. Dubrovnik flourished for centuries as the Republic of Ragusa and was a rich trading rival to Venice and a player in the diplomacy of the Balkans. Robin Harris's "Dubrovnik: A History" brings the medieval and early-modern city to life. This is a well-written and beautifully-illustrated volume but readers should beware: Harris's account pretty much ends in 1808. This is not so much as history of Dubrovnik as it is a history of the Republic which was extinguished in the early 19th century. Readers who are curious about the city's fate after that -- and it has a rich history under the Habsburgs, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Yugoslavia and finally an independent Croatia -- will have to look elsewhere.

Robin Harris has demonstrably added to what has been called "The Pearl of the Adriatic"'s historical foundation in a delightful way. Not only is "Dubrovnik" well researched, it is also a joy to read, particularly passages describing the complexity of Dubrovnik's trade until the Napoleonic Wars. One travels to Dubrovnik, looks at history - Harris has done much to shed light on Dubrovnik's great walls and its rich cultural preserve.

Gregor Dekleva