Kosovo: A Short History [Paperback]

Noel Malcolm (Author), University Pres New York (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 1999

"Malcolm's narrative is gripping, even brilliant at times. . . . He takes to his task with the vigor of a detective driven by true passion. At times his claims are, in terms of Balkan history,quite revolutionary."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Kosovo, a 55-mile-long plateau in southern Serbia bordering Albania and Macedonia, should by all rights be a historical and political backwater. A Bulgarian geographer who visited Kosovo during World War I remarked that it was "almost as unknown and inaccessible as a stretch of land in Central Africa." The observation would prove ironically fitting by the '90s, as Central Africa and Kosovo both became sites of widespread genocide, fueled by ethnic hatreds, of the deepest international significance. Noel Malcolm, a British historian and journalist who has written extensively about the Balkans (including a companion volume of sorts on Bosnia), provides an overview of Kosovo's long-standing cultural divisions in his "short history" (although, at more than 500 pages, a not so short book).

Readers following the unfolding war in Kosovo through newspaper and television coverage may well ask why ethnic Albanians and Serbs are struggling so violently to command the small region. Kosovo, Malcolm explains, is the birthplace of Serbian nationalism; the defeat of Serbian forces there in 1389 by Turkish troops became emblematic of the fall of the Serbian empire, as it led to Turkish domination of the Balkans. Contemporary warriors of Serbia are, in Malcolm's eyes, evidently attempting to reverse the course of history by reclaiming the land from its Turkish conquerors--but in the absence of the Turks, they'll take it from the Albanians (the largest ethnic group among Kosovo's inhabitants) whose ancestors converted to Islam when the Turks ruled the region. Malcolm's lucid text shows again and again that the ethnic conflict in Kosovo is less a battle over bloodlines and religion than it is one over differing conceptions of national origins and history. "When ordinary Serbs learn to think more rationally and humanely about Kosovo, and more critically about some of their national myths," he concludes, "all the people of Kosovo and Serbia will benefit--not least the Serbs themselves." --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In this awe-inspiring work, Malcolm has created a vital successor to his Bosnia: A Short History and an essential aid to anyone who wishes to understand this tragic region today. Through the dazzling use of linguistic evidence, Malcolm postulates that Albanians, whether their nebulous origins are Thracian or Illyrian, can reasonably be placed in the region as early as pre-Roman times. The historical description begins in earnest with the Middle Ages, with the advent of written records, and Malcolm appears to have ferreted out every one. His book is exceptional not only for his unimpeachable research, but also for his equitable examination of the conflicting ethnic views of what really happened in this contentious region, and his determination to debunk dangerous myths. If some will be shocked to learn that Serbian state policy mandated ethnic cleansing for more than 100 years, others will be equally amazed at the resilience of a people who for centuries have been caught in nationalistic crossfire. But probably the most important contribution of the book is its clear and thorough documentation of the legal status of Kosovo over time, and its compelling conclusions that challenge the accepted status quo. One can't help speculating on how a clear understanding of the information contained here might have affected the Dayton Accord and history.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 492 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (June 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060977752
• ISBN-13: 978-0060977757
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #580,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > History > Europe > Serbia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly researched but does become partisan, October 12, 2004

By 

RM (London Colney, HE UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kosovo: A Short History (Paperback)

I was not sure whether to give Malcolm's book a 3 or 4 stars but because it is such a well-researched book, I decided to give it 4, although I would probably agree with the overall rating for his book so far- 3 and a half.
As there is so much to say about his book, this will be a thorough review.

First of all, Malcolm has clearly gone out of his way to write the most extensive book on Kosovo's history of any Western historian. I disagree with the notion that he simply wrote this book to earn some money because the time, help and resources he would have required travelling around Europe to various national libraries, looking through archives from hundreds of years back, asking people for their opinions etc must have been at great financial, as well psychological, cost to himself.
Saying that however, one can see that he visited the Zagreb national library and the library in Tirana but did not visit any libraries in Belgrade, probably the largest city in south-eastern Europe and in this case for Malcolm's research, a vital institution of knowledge.

I reject the excuse that he did not have the time or that the sources in Belgrade's library would have been highly biased in regards to his research because the same could be argued about the sources in Zagreb and Tirana.
Another criticism that I would make is that all of the people that he acknowledges at the beginning of his book are non-Serbs, either Croats, Albanians, Bosnians or Westerners which raises questions about his objectivity.

Now, to the book. I think that the earlier chapters on Kosovo's history are relatively well-balanced but do get the impression that he reserves a disproportionately larger share of the book to talking about the history of the Albanians, rather than the history of Kosovo's Serbs (from the 16th century onwards)
I think that the area of Kosovo that he calls "Eastern Kosovo" is also quite neglected historically, whereas he reserves alot of paper for Western Kosovo, possibly because that area had a much larger population.

From the period 1912-1941, however, Malcolm is blatantly partisan in favour of the Albanians, although certainly the Albanians did suffer terribly at the hands of the Belgrade and local Serbian administrators,leaders and armed forces. While commenting on the atrocities carried out by the Chetniks, Serbian and Montenegrin armies, such as forced conversions in the Pec area, massacres at Urosevac etc he doesn't reserve any space for atrocities committed against Serb civilians in Kosovo, which I find astounding. With Kosovo during WW2 he takes a far more balanced approach and states that Albanians and Serbs were committing atrocities against each other, although the Serbs were clearly receiving the worst of the treatment. However, he then quotes one Croat and one Serb historian and one claims that 3,000 Albanians were killed altogether and the other states that 14,000 were killed. There is a huge discrepancy of 11,000 which is not explained by Malcolm. Also, both generally agree that between 3 and 4,000 Serbs died; how is that so, if he stated previously that they bore the brunt of the atrocities? His own view about the Italian and German occupation of Kosovo seems to be relatively benign as well, and there is no criticism of the highly nationalist Balli Kombetar movement in Kosovo during this period.

Finally, his last two chapters from 1945-1997 are generally fair although I would raise one point. He claims that only about 0.4% of Serbs that emigrated from the period 1966-1980's said they left because of harrassment and violence by Albanians. I personally find this very hard to believe, because there has been plenty of documented evidence to support the theory that many Serbs were leaving because of coercion and violence. Its true that the Albanians have the highest birth rate in Europe and that the economic conditions were poor but to say that 99.6% of Serbs left for these two reasons alone is erroneous.

So, to sum up. Malcolm has clearly done some excellent research on Kosovo and I think that it is completely unfair and incorrect to say that his book is biased all the way through and therefore not worthy to be called a history book. Also, some reviewers criticise Malcolm for using alot more Albanian sources than Serbian ones. I suppose this is understandable, considering that at the time of writing 90% of Kosovo's population was Albanian.
Its also misleading to say that whenever he does quote a Serb, it is simply to attack or negate Serbian beliefs and ideologies.

Malcolm has used a wide variety of Serbian sources and has also disregarded and corrected certain Albanian myths as being false or exaggerations. For example, the notion that Albanians were always a majority in Kosovo and how some Albanian writers refer to the Presevo valley in southern Serbia as "Eastern Kosovo", the claim that 40,000 Albanians died in Kosovo during WW2, etc.
A highly enjoyable book which is slightly spoiled in some chapters due to partisan views.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dry and Difficult, December 18, 1999

By 

Marc Szeftel (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kosovo: A Short History (Paperback)

Perhaps a better title for this would be: "Kosovo: an Interminable History". I found this book to be very difficult reading, and I was unable to finish it. I have a degree in history, and have read many academic works (as opposed to popular books), but the mark of a truly great historian is the ability to write lucidly and bring the story to life. Malcolm's work is very earnest and brimming with minutiae, but the focus here is on the analysis of documents, and the narrative gets bogged down in a torrent of detail. Given the controversies he is trying to examine, this is perhaps unavoidable; but these issues could have been made more understandable by a more gifted writer.

As to the charges of bias that have been levelled against this book, I did not see any signs of this(admittedly, I only read about half). It certainly lacks the kind of inflammatory and slanted language that are the hallmarks of truly biased writing.

If you're looking for the kind of vivid historical narrative found in such books as Robert Kaplan's "Balkan Ghosts", this work will probably disappoint you.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not very short, but very thorough! Excellent!, November 8, 2000

By 

Kris Brankovic (Perth, West Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kosovo: A Short History (Paperback)

Noel Malcolm's reputation as an authority on the Balkans has been established by his previous (and equally illuminating) studies of the region. In Kosovo: A Short History, Malcolm traces the origins of the myths that are relavant in regional conflicts today. But his book is more than just an explanation of historical fact: his prose and research are exemplary! Contrary to some other criticisms, his sections on ethnicity and linguistics are fascinating! The allegations of bias are valid but only in the intellectual sense that all history is subjective and therefore biased. I am Serbian, and I must admit that I approached this book with the same scepticism I approach all material relating to Serbia. Most of the content published today trivialises Serbian feelings towards Kosovo, and the Albanian's struggle for equality as well. This work is interesting and informative - a must for any student of history and anyone who wishes to understand the Balkans of today.