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40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More Trees than Woods, August 8, 1999
This review is from: The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) (Paperback)
Wilkes' book about the Illyrian peoples in the Balkan peninsula, from their prehistoric origins until the arrival of the Slavs, suffers from lack of broader scholarship. The simple fact is that we don't know very much about the Illyrians, especially in the pre-Christian periods. The result is that the first 180 pages of this chronological survey are extremely thin on sociology, politics, organization, religion, etc... in short all of the things we wish to learn from a history. Instead, the text is an overly detailed log of dig sites and types of implements found there, without any broader analysis. This is not Wilkes' fault, there simply hasn't been enough scholarship, or enough breakthroughs in understanding the Illyrians to satisfactorily fill these pages. The book becomes much more useful, and more interesting as we reach the Roman/Christian era, simply because there is enough historical evidence to fill in a few more of the gaps. Unfortunately, there still is not really enough grist. Perhaps the next tome on the Illyrians, in twenty years time, will reflect much more fieldwork and understanding of their society. Until then, this is a useful jumping-off point, but hardly a comprehensive review of Illyrian history. For a nitpick: the maps are a disaster. The four maps in the introduction simply do not carry enough information to the reader. I found myself frequently flipping to these maps, scouring them in vain for a place name mentioned in the text, looking through a large atlas, wondering if the name itself had changed over time, and ultimately being frustrated that I couldn't locate events. Author and editor should design dozens more maps, relevant to nearby text, and sprinkle them liberally throughout the book.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Illyrian history remains secret, December 21, 2010
This review is from: The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) (Paperback)
The history of Illyrians is still covered with too many unknowns. The only way to write about them is to collect the excavated pieces and try to put them together in a timetable, which came out solid in this book. For the sake of rationality and impartiality it's extremely important to stay away from the temptation to write a 'story' of the people that we know so little or nothing about. It is obvious why many authors concentrate themselves more on the Roman-Illyrian times. We simply cannot ignore the written information's by Roman -and other authors, whatever we might think of them.
Reviews that speak of author's unfriendliness toward Albania and Albanian nation, same about the 'conspiracy', of all other nations in 'Illyrian' area, against the theory of Albanians as only 'surviving' Illyrians, are absurd and untrue. The excavated materials show undesired facts to their personal opinion of the matter, so it's a pure nationalism speaking. Until 19th century in parts of Istrian peninsula(Croatia) lived people that spoke a kind of dialect/language that was considered to be of Illyrian origins.
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24 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the foremost LIVING authority on the Illyrians, March 11, 2005
This review is from: The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) (Paperback)
Wilkes is the foremost LIVING authority on the Illyrians. His is the LATEST comprehensive work on the Illyrian people. In his book, "The Illyrians", John Wilkes states on pg: 219:
"NOT MUCH RELIANCE SHOULD PERHAPS BE PLACED ON ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY AN ILLYRIAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL TYPE AS SHORT AND DARK SKINNED SIMMILAR TO MODERN ALBANIANS."
Wilkes has been proven CORRECT by science when the Human Genome Project's Y-chromosome study of European populations, confirmed that the vast majority of contemporary Albanians do not share an Illyrian or any Indo-European linneage - they are mostly a pre-IE Mediterranean population.
John Wilkes correctly puts Illyrian descendants among contemporary ex-Yugoslavs, centered around Montenegro and Bosnia and branching out into Dalmatia and south-western Serbia. Wilkes hints that ex-Yugoslavs are slavicized Illyrians and he leans on C.S Coon who insists that Albanians are of mixed Slavic, Thracian, Turkish, Armenoid and Illyrian origin.
This work was published in 1991 and based on the newest excavations undertaken in ex-Illyria. Wilkes brings out plenty of the most recent archaeological and anthropological evidence which other's in his field did not have access to.
Ten years after he published this work, the Human Genome Project's Y-chromosome study proved him correct. Modern science has dealt a huge blow to Albanian attempts to usurpe the Illyrian legacy. He was a decade ahead of his time. Because of his work, many academics within Albania have also come out in favour of accepting the new findings; namely: Kaplan Resuli, Fatos Lubonja, Ardian Qosi and Ardian Vebiu. They are joined by many international critics of the now debunked Albanian-Illyrian theory: Paul, Hirt, Weigand, Tomashek, Georgiev, Pushcariu and many others.
Read this book. Keep in mind that it is based on evidence older works did not have access to and keep in mind that science has proven Wilkes correct ten years after he published this long-overdue honest and objective, thorough analysis of the legacy of one of Europe's oldest civilizations. The Albanians can no longer unjustly monopolise a whole people as they have done in the past.
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