Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0801446015 | ISBN-13: 978-0801446016

Comparatively little is well known about Europe's newest and one of its smallest independent states: the small mountain fastness Montenegro. In a book written for specialists and general readers alike, Elizabeth Roberts traces its history from pre-Slavic times, including its part in the 1389 battle of Kosovo and its prominent role in resisting the Ottomans. She recounts Montenegro's development under its Prince-Bishops toward the independence achieved at the Congress of Berlin and lost after the Versailles Conference when the Podgorica Assembly voted to join the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia. When Slobodan Milosevic spoke of Montenegro and Serbia as "two eyes in the same head," he encapsulated a view that has deep roots in both nations. But not all Montenegrins agreed, and many chafed at being forced to play the role of Serbia's junior partner. Indeed, Montenegro's complex and shifting cultural and political identity is the main theme of Roberts's witty and dispassionate book, which culminates in Montenegro's defining referendum and subsequent international recognition in the summer of 2006.The history of Montenegro is at once a colorful, often bloodily violent story and instructive about how land, religion, and politics (both domestic and international) have intersected over centuries to shape and reshape cultural identities in Southeastern Europe. Students of national identity have much to learn from the Montenegrin case, and general readers will be enthralled by the dramatic tale that unfolds in Realm of the Black Mountain.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Although it has a tiny population, Montenegro also has as rich and violent a past as anywhere else on the continent . . . . So it is perhaps all the more surprising that no general history of Montenegro, except for ones written by Montenegrins, has been published abroad since 1912. There was a very large gap to be filled, albeit for a very small place. Elizabeth Roberts, a former diplomat who has taught Balkan history, has filled it. Now that she has produced such a thorough book, future historians may not bother again: if one history was enough for the last century, perhaps one is enough for this century too."-The Economist

"Elizabeth Roberts leads us skillfully along the highways and byways of Montenegro's excessive amount of history. . . . Have you got the details of the Eastern Question at your fingertips' Can you remember what exactly it was that brought Gladstone out of retirement to challenge evil with all the moral force at his command? Well, if you are a little rusty on all these issues, Roberts will tell you about the Black Mountain that was near the heart of this bloody matter and about much else besides, in Realm of the Black Mountain, her scholarly, readable, and well-written history of Montenegro."-Chris Patten, Times Literary Supplement, June 1, 2007

"A richly detailed and timely new history of Montenegro."-Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian

"An intelligent, readable, and very important study. A historical book could hardly be more relevant for the future, perhaps for the near future, than this one."-Aleksa Djilas, author of The Contested Country

"The need for an up-to-date study of Montenegrin history is self-evident. Elizabeth Roberts has provided a succinct account of this difficult and complex subject."-Richard Crampton, University of Oxford

From the Back Cover

"A richly detailed and timely new history of Montenegro."--Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian

"An intelligent, readable, and very important study. A historical book could hardly be more relevant for the future, perhaps for the near future, than this one."--Aleksa Djilas, author of The Contested Country

"The need for an up-to-date study of Montenegrin history is self-evident. Elizabeth Roberts has provided a succinct account of this difficult and complex subject."--Richard Crampton, University of Oxford

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 556 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (February 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801446015
• ISBN-13: 978-0801446016
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > History > Europe > Serbia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars finally -- a proper history of Montenegro, in English!, March 11, 2008

By 

Dr. Michael T. Pearse "Meic Pearse" (Houghton, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro (Hardcover)

This is an excellent survey of the history of a fascinating country. It has been an irksome fact for some years that no modern, scholarly survey of Montenegrin history has been in print. It is, for example, one of the serious shortcomings of Misha Glenny's otherwise superb "The Balkans 1804-1999" that Montenegro is almost entirely absent from his coverage. The splendid treatment given to both Bosnia and Kosovo by Noel Malcolm's books needed to be extended to the Black Mountain. And now Elizabeth Roberts has done it.

The introductory chapter is a lightning-fast overview of the history. Then she starts again in chapter 1 for a more pedestrian amble through that past. It is often an irritating feature of works of this kind that they over-concentrate on more recent periods of the past, as if only the latest news is somehow 'relevant' -- and although Roberts' book does indeed give far more space to later periods than to earlier ones (2/3rds of the work covers the time since 1774), she simply has to be forgiven for it; written records on the Middle Ages and ancient times in that backward realm are so few as to make overlengthy interpretation of them tiresome for the reader.

The book as a whole gives a very solid, satisfying, balanced and insightful view on Montenegro's history. The historiographical record to date would suggest that Roberts' book is unlikely to suffer competition for a few decades to come. But frankly, this is so good that it won't matter much.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Black Mountain revisited, September 10, 2007

By 

Leonard Moore - See all my reviews

This review is from: Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro (Hardcover)

A magisterial account which as "The Economist" says is so wide-ranging and comprehensive that no further history in English is likely to be published for a very long time. As the Spectator reviewer, Simon Sebag Montefiore, said " a wonderful book" and Timothy Garton Ash in the Guardian ""A richly detailed and timely new history of Montenegro"

2 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Popular History, June 15, 2007

By 

Ramon (Iceland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro (Hardcover)

Popular history of the nesewst state in the world.Interesting interpretation of a selected number of secondary sources on the history of the South Slavs.