Miranda Vickers's "The Albanians," is one of three novels written by Vickers about the Balkan region, specifically Albania and Kosovo. I first read this book about four years ago for a class on East European history and politics. While the class wasn't that good, I did enjoy reading about Albania. The book fed an interest I've had about Albania since I first heard Radio Tirana on my shortwave radio years ago. Albania is a forgotten land, only newsworthy when a new ethnic conflict flares up in the region or when the country descends into anarchy, as it did in 1997. This edition is an updated version, covering events up into the late 1990's.

"The Albanians" is about as good a survey of the country as you will find. Vickers starts the book with the earliest history of Albania and ends the book around 1999. The goal of the book is to examine how Albanian nationalism worked itself out in the history of the region. Vickers outlines five points she hopes her book will shed light on. She wants to explain why many Albanians converted to Islam; why the Albanian state was the last in the Balkans to develop a national consciousness; how the Albanian state came into existence; why the Albanians of the former Yugoslavia were excluded from that state; and why Albania remained for so long one of the world's most isolated and repressed societies. The following is a partial summary of some of Vickers's claims in answer to her questions:

Many Albanians converted to Islam, explains Vickers, due to the presence of Ottoman domination for some five centuries. While the Ottoman's didn't eradicate other religious faiths from their territories, they did institute programs that favored Muslims and those who converted to Islam. Muslims got appointments to local offices, paid fewer or no taxes, and didn't have to pay the Devshirme, the levy that required Christians to give up one son for the elite Janissary corps of the Ottoman army. Conversion to Islam, therefore, benefited a person and his family.

The Albanian state was the last to develop a national consciousness due to a number of factors. One reason was the Ottoman land system, called the millet. This divided people up according to religious faith, and prevented the formation of a national identity by creating religious divisions that hindered a coalescence of the various Albanian tribes. Another problem was the lack of a systematic, written Albanian alphabet. Three scripts vied for attention: the Latin (eventually adopted at the alphabet congress at Monastir in 1908), the Greek, and the Turkish. A culture that cannot write down its own history, or express itself through a unified language, is not much of a culture.

The Albanian state became a political expression in November 1912. This was a bleak time for Albania, due to the first Balkan war. Greece invaded Southern Albania in an attempt to claim Northern Epirus. The Montenegrins invaded from the north, laying siege to Shkoder, and Serbia marched to Durres on the Adriatic, in order to obtain a port. The independence of Albania was an important event to Austria-Hungary, who hoped to blunt the spread of pan-Slavism. Independence caused problems with Western powers, who tended to ignore Albania in favor of its neighbors. The ultimate outcome of Albanian independence was a political and geographical entity, although many Albanians now resided outside the borders of the Albanian state. The region of Kosova became a major problem for Albania after independence. Kosova flipped-flopped between Albanian and Yugoslavian control until after WWII, when it became a permanent (?) part of Yugoslavia. Serbian claims to Kosova revolved around the 1389 Battle of Kosovo. The Serbs claimed this was an important part of their cultural heritage, a claim that fell on sympathetic Western ears. Further problems for reunification occurred when Albania's communist regime collapsed in the early 1990's. Many Kosovars had no interest in giving up a standard of living that was light years ahead of Albania.

Albania's isolation consists of many factors. Its geographical features are a major problem. A Muslim majority in Christian Europe is another factor. Probably the most important factor is its almost fifty year communist regime, a regime headed up by a pro-Stalinist xenophobe named Enver Hoxha. Hoxha, a mass murder if there ever was one, spent his entire career bouncing Albania between the Yugoslavs, the USSR, and China before instituting a strict isolationist stance. Albania definitely had some concerns with foreign influence, but Hoxha's positions were absurd. By the time Albania came out of its long isolation, the country seemed like a relic out of time.

There are a few problems with the book. Since "The Albanians" is a survey, I constantly found myself asking questions that went beyond the scope of the book. In that respect, maybe the book does do its job; it makes you hungry for more information about this fascinating country. I do think Vickers could have spent more time discussing the likes of Skenderbeg, Albania's national hero. A good portion of this information is stuffed into a small introduction. Another problem is the maps, which are sorely lacking. The three maps included in the book are completely lacking in place names, rivers, etc. For a survey book, detailed maps are a MUST, and this book falls down on the job.

I enjoyed this book the first time I read it, and even more the second time through. Vickers knows her stuff. I can't wait to read her sequel.

Now that the United States has committed large numbers of ground troops to keep the peace in Bosnia and Kosova, it is important that her citizens learn about these areas. The history of the Balkans is typical of that where cultures have met and fought over the territory for centuries. It is the area where the three religions of Islam, Orthodox Christian and Catholicism share a common border with enclaves of each embedded in the other. Nearly all of the borders in that area of the world are artificial, political creations that do not reflect the ethnic and religious composition of the regions. This has led to centuries of hostility, which occasionally explodes into mass killing.
Nearly all of the nations in that area are less than a century old, and in the case of Albania, the idea of the nation is very recent. With substantial differences in customs separating the northern and southern regions, loyalty to the nation over their region among the inhabitants is an idea that postdates the creation of the country. Up until the end of the second world war, Albania was also in danger of being partitioned between the neighboring states.
All of this in combination generates a complex political and social problem that has yet to be resolved. Vickers does an excellent job in describing the events that led to the current battles in Kosova, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia. The recounting of the centuries of conflict is well done and helps explain why U. S. military forces are needed there. The history of the region is that of more powerful nations achieving and maintaining control by manipulating the hostilities that exist between the various groups. For centuries, this was how the Ottoman empire ruled the region and world war two in the Balkans was largely a local conflict between the ethnic groups where the Germans and Italians favored one group over another.
In reading this history of the region, one finds it difficult to see a way in which the U.S. and NATO presence can easily be removed. Down through the years, there have been years of uneasy peace between the various groups and the current situation could just be another such time. Nevertheless, it is important for the U. S. to be involved and this book is a good way to learn why the forces should be involved and will no doubt be there for some time.

Albania's history is rich and Miranda Vickers has done an excellent job of documenting it.

I was pleasantly surprised that she discussed the Arberesh (the Albanese of Italy), even if it was briefly.

The book is an excellent resource tool and a great addition to any library.

The details given in the book on the sites to visit are very good and detailed. A good addition would be more maps that show how to get there, since there are normally no sign and if you don't have a local tour guide or driver, it's difficult to find. The recommendations for hotels and restaurants could be better. Overall, a good book to travel around in Albania and it has been very helpful to me. The writer seems to have a good knowledge of the sites.

I am a devoted academic researcher on Albanian culture and this is the best guide book out on the market that offers wonderful information on travel into Albania and Kosovo. This guide book not only has useful information on travel conditions and the best way to explore the area, but it also has some wonderful information regarding the culture and history of the Albanian nation. This book is a must have for anyone that is interested in travelling to this culturally complex region in the Balkans. This book is the first thing that I am taking with me when I set off to travel to Shqiperia and Shqiperia e Madhe (Albania and Greater Albania). It is a shame that Lonely Planet has not produced a guide book into this part of the world. It would be fantastic if they did. For the meantime this Blues Guide has everything you need to make your trip into the region a successful and productive one.

This author is to be congratulated on an absolutely masterful work! This is a fantastic book that is crammed full of useful travel, as well as historical information to an almost unbelievable degree. If this guide book had been written in a less condensed format it would easily have ended up being twice as long. I noticed that during my travels in southern Albania, the author seemed to have ethnic and historical information on villages so small that they didn't exist even on the most detailed maps that I was able to purchase. On that basis, I would recommend this book even for those not contemplating a trip to Albania, as it provides for many hours of interesting reading for those just wanting to learn more about the culture and history of the region.

Although the author's approach of writing a guidebook which includes all areas of historic Albanian inhabitation (Kosovo, Northern Greece, and Western Macedonia) rather than just the present day country is somewhat unusual, he does the reader a great service as many visitors to Albania entering from these adjacent regions are provided with detailed information which is usually lacking in other guidebooks (i.e. Guidebooks on Greece have little, if any information on regions around the Albanian border areas).

I would not contemplate travel to Albania without this publication!

This appears to be a fascinating account of the aftermath of Hoxha's nightmare dictatorship in Albania. Individuals and places are evocatively described and you begin to get a picture of how they used to survive both the regime and the chaos that followed, often with more dignity and decency than most of us would manage. Extremely annoying is that Jones turns out to have made the whole thing up. He never actually admits it, but I gather from other sources that the central character in the book is completely invented, which means the whole book must be viewed as fiction. An enjoyable read, but is it all a pack of lies?

When I started reading "Biografi," I expected a straightforward travelogue on Albania and its peoples. After all, Albania seems to bring out the travelogue in authors. I can think of several on Albania alone off the top of my head. But most of these are 19th and early 20th century journals. What is surprising is that even in the 1990's, and one assumes into the future, travelogues are and will still be written on a country that is, amazingly enough, in Europe. The reason for this is few know anything about Albania. There may be a vague recollection of its Communist past; beyond this people draw a blank. This is where the travelogues come in; they are an easy way of discovering and presenting the unknown. Unfortunately, they are often grossly inaccurate and fraught with bias or outright hostility by the author in question. The topic, in this case Albania, is the problem. To outsiders, Albania is weird. Centuries of Ottoman domination destroyed any chance of development and left the majority of the population Muslim (at least nominally), and the rugged terrain further hindered outside influence. What makes this book different is that it isn't travelogue in the orthodox sense; it is a strange mix of fact and fantasy about a misunderstood country.

I was greatly pleased to read that Jones learned about Albania the same way I did, namely through shortwave radio. I vividly remember listening to Radio Tirana back in the 1980's. Tirana always stood out on the dial because the Chinese transmitters were so poorly modulated that the announcers sounded as though they were talking into a bucket. Jones's neighbor, who plays a prominent part in this book, often listened to Radio Tirana, and Jones became interested. When the Communist collapses came in the early 1990's, Jones decided to take a trip to Albania (lucky duck!). This book is the result.

Jones's quest in Albania is to find Petar Shapallo. Petar, a dentist by trade, is abducted by Communist leader Enver Hoxha's secret police so he can become Hoxha's body double. Shapallo assumes Hoxha's duties when Hoxha is ill. When Hoxha dies, Shapallo is cast out into society, where his likeness to a suddenly unpopular leader leads Shapallo to mutilate his face and go into hiding. During the search for Shapallo, Jones runs into a grand cast of characters, both local and foreign. Jones even talks to Hoxha's widow, Nexhmije, along the way. Everywhere Jones goes, he finds a country in a freefall into chaos. What's worse, the people are decaying just as rapidly. Albanians constantly worry over their "biografi," which are official files held by the Albanian secret police. The stories are heartrending; people locked up, exiled, or executed for trivial matters. A family member of thirty years ago with the wrong connections can land their descendents in jail, or worse. Outside of these biografis, Albanians seem to have no identity of their own.

Jones is very concerned with journeys in this book. Everyone is going somewhere; Jones is going to Albania, Shapallo is trying to return to his village, many Albanians are headed to Italy or points beyond. Jones even relates a tale about his aunt running away from her marriage to his uncle. This obsession with movement seems to be tied up with identity. None of the characters in the book seem to know who they are or why they do what they do. They just know they must GO, somewhere, anywhere. Hope lies just over the horizon and they'll find something if they can just get there. When Jones looks up some Albanians in Italy, they are unhappy because Italy isn't the paradise they thought it would be; now they talk about going to America. Will Albania ever find itself? Will we, as humans, ever find ourselves? It seems that this is a message Jones is trying to convey.

Of course, I could be completely off my rocker. What I do know is this book goes way beyond travelogue. There are dimensions to this book I can only guess at. Even if you don't want to read deeply into this book, there are still plenty of good things to find. Jones goes into some depth in his descriptions of the beautiful scenery in rural Albania, and the characters are, for the most part, well crafted and worth reading about. I do think some knowledge on Albania is helpful. The map in the book is worthy for place descriptions, but a quick web search might help with some basic information and names. You should know who Enver Hoxha is and why he is such a despicable character. I hope they reprint this book soon.

See how Enver Hoxha ruled with his people... You'll find it hard to believe...

Albania from poster child to basket case in seven years.

In 1991, post-communism Albania embraced capitalism like a drunk would a whiskey bottle. In the first few years, the international press boosted Albania as an "economic miracle, (a) Balkan tiger, and (a) rising shining star." In 1997, swept up in the mania of a ponzi-style investment scheme, the Albanian house of cards came tumbling down. It is hard to comprehend the scope of the collapse - more than 75 percent of the population lost all their life savings. Riots, beatings, looting of Army armories, burning of government buildings and rampant mayhem gripped the country for weeks.

Finally, in an effort to stabilize this torn and devastated country, a contingent of multinational troops had to be sent in. A collapse of this magnitude does not have a cause; rather, it is a compendium of factors that cumulate in tragedy.

In Albania in Crisis Daniel Vaughn-Whitehead evaluates the "how" and the "why" this country fell so far so fast. Writing with empirical statistical support, Vaughn-Whitehead pulls no punches as he uncovers the causes of this crisis. The signs of the impending tragedy were there if anyone had looked critically, but the social and economic harbingers were ignored until the very end.

This academic work is recommended for those with an interest in Albania or any emerging post-communist countries.

David Smiley had two active covert adventures with Albania, one inside and one outside that long-troubled Balkan nation. This book rather thoroughly portrays the first, laying out in detail his adventures as a British Liaison Officer with mountain chieftain Abbas Kupi's royalist cetas (guerrilla forces). The major benefit of Smiley's work is that it tantalizingly bridges the BLO adventures in Albania during WWII to the Cold War's major test of what became known as the "roll back" policy (forcing Soviet influence back within Soviet borders. It gives him a chance for a bit of self-justification, placing the blame for the failure of MI6 ops in Albania at the plate of alleged superspy Harold A.R. 'Kim' Philby. Smiley's work is not as thorough in its treatment of this wartime episode as Julian Amery's 1948 tome, "Sons of the Eagle", but its brevity is also a point for those impatient with esoteric Balkan names and terms. Like some of his World War II cohorts, Smiley became enamored of Albanians and sees them for what they are, charming survivors with a touch of hubris. One can only wish Smiley's autobiography or memoir would trace his colorful life from Sandhurst to his walnut farm near Alicante in Spain.

I have had a soft spot in my heart for Albania for many years. Ever since I heard Radio Tirana on my shortwave radio back in the 1980's, my fascination with this little, misunderstood country on the fringes of Europe has never ceased. One day I hope to do graduate work on Albania and its people. In the meantime, I read historical works and novels about the country and dream of visiting it one day.

Albania's conversion to democracy after the devastating regime of Enver Hoxha's Stalinist rule continues to be a rocky one. Too much damage from five centuries of Ottoman rule coupled with communist brutality remains to this day. Arshi Pipa, in "Albanian Stalinism," attempts to systematize the damage communist rule imposed on the country.

This book consists mainly of essays about communist Albania and the Kosova province. It also includes a book review of Jon Halliday's "The Artful Albanian," a poem about Mother Theresa visiting Enver Hoxha and Stalin in Hades, and some speeches. There is even a small fictional piece about a stay in a forced labor camp and a dedication to a Catholic archbishop who died in an Albanian prison. Pipa wrote these essays over a forty-year span, from the 1950's to 1990.

The primary thrust of Pipa's essays can be summed up in the word "Stalalbanianism," a concoction of Stalinist communism and Albanian communism. After Albania split with the Yugoslavs in 1948, they embraced Stalinist Russia. Albania's emphasis on collectivization, industrial development, gulags, and party purges not only can be traced to this dependence and adoption of Stalinism, but also lasted much longer than Stalinism did around the world. Pipa shows how Enver Hoxha adopted the personality cult of Stalinism, creating a sect around himself through purges and through his dense, convoluted writings. Hoxha became a sort of messiah figure, lauded even after his death as Albania's lone Marxist-Leninist theoretician (he had the other Marxist intellectuals killed). That Hoxha's elevation to a saint of Marxism required the execution and imprisonment of thousands magically eluded Albanian court historians. Pipa tries to set the record straight.

The essays on Kosova are informative, especially since Pipa wrote these essays before the wars and ethnic cleansings in Yugoslavia during the 1990's. In Pipa's writings, Kosova is a pawn between Albania and Yugoslavia. Albania promoted a pro-Stalinist government there in an effort to upset the Yugoslav government. Yugoslavia quashed efforts to elevate Kosova to a republic within the Yugoslav federation because the Serbs objected to Kosova's ethnic Albanian majority. Pipa argues that the Kosova problem might be overcome through economic solutions (a necessary solution, as Kosova had the highest unemployment and lowest income in the entire Yugoslav federation) based on an international outlook that would rise above regional hatreds. The NATO war against Serbia in 1999 showed that these developments never materialized.

This is not unbiased writing. Pipa is a vociferous anti-communist and despises Enver Hoxha. It's not hard to discover why; Pipa spent time in labor camps in the late 1940's and early 1950's, and found himself accused of collaboration with the CIA during the purge of Mehmet Shehu. Since this book isn't unbiased, care should be taken with some of Pipa's observations and conclusions. I'm glad to see that despite his hatred of Hoxha, Pipa did grudgingly admit that the Hoxhan reign raised literacy, improved industrial capacity, and increased medical care to the masses.

Go ahead and read this if you have a background in Albanian studies. If you don't have the necessary background, read a survey or two on Albania first. Pipa's analyses of events in Albania can get a bit sticky if you're not familiar with names and places.

If you believe that the biography of a merciless tyrant could make a good story, then this is definitely it. Plomer's writing is straight-foward which makes the book a great read for teenagers. Furthermore, the author is convincing with respect to the authenticity of the story he presents. He references the diaries of French and British correspondents to Ali's court, in addition to the writings of various historians who visited Ali Pasha during his rule (most notably, Lord Byron). To Plomer's credit, this is not a dry presentation of the Pasha's exploits. Plomer also examines the rich history of the area (Albania and northeastern Greece) and provides detailed desciptions of its peoples and their habits. For anyone who is interested in 19th century Balkan history, this is mandatory reading.

This book was indeed very useful and relevant as a travel guide when it was released nearly six years ago, but the changes in Albania since that time have been so sweeping that much of the practical information, such as accommodation, is nearly obsolete. I can personally testify that it is a fantastic and gorgeous nation of diverse cities and landscapes worthy of a long stay. For anyone who doesn't have the benefit of personal connection to serve as guidance there, an updated objective travel guide on Albania is certainly overdue.

So you want to go to Europe, but want a change? Somewhere different, unusual, off the beaten path and not crowded by tourists? Go Albania.

For 50 years Albania was literally shut away from the rest of the world by a fanatical communist dictator. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of European Communism released the proud and warm people from the deep sleep. Slowly they are coming alive to the rest of the world. While previously it was nearly impossible for Westerners to visit Albania, the door is now wide open. But be forewarned, Albania is the poorest country in all of Europe, and there are still many practical difficulties for the common tourist. The first place to start is with a tour guide.

Since Blue Guide: Albania is the only guide to this country in print, that alone makes it a valuable travel aid. Blue Guides are published by W.W. Norton and are unique travel guides that strongly promote a country's history, culture and archaeology.

Author James Pettifer, a Balkans expert, has selected the easiest places in Albania to visit; namely, places where accommodations can be found. He furnishes the traveler with good, practical information, although it is dated since it was written pre-1996. The hotels and restaurants listed are almost non-existent and fall bellow the most remedial standards of travel guides for other countries. The guide's strengths are history, culture and archaeology - and in this area Pettifer excels.

If you are traveling to Albania, this guide will be a good asset - conditionally recommended.

The Blue Guide is the best guide for Albania. This guide has informations about everything (history, culture, language, places to have seen, hotels, restaurants) and mentions everything that can be visited. Unfortunately, the maps are really bad. The situation in Albania changes very quickely - the traveller has to know this. But all the other guides are older and have more wrong informations. James Pettifer knows Albania very well and visited all the country.

I would like also to have contakt with a reader from Kansas City, MO United States about the KING ZOG book that he has found. Please would you give me his mail address or telephone number.I would be grateful if could give me this information.

THANK you .

As a collector of Albanian coins, and specifically King Zog era Albanian coins, I found the book absolutely fascinating. A wee bit academic in it's approach, and lacking illustrations, it is still a MUST read book for anyone interested in the Zog period of Albanian history. If you are familliar with Egyptian history of the King Farouk period, you will see many similarities in their reign. Both kings were adept at playing the diplomatic game for a while, only to end up being jerked around by friend and foe alike.

The last chapter of the Zog book is especially interesting, as it covers the years Zog spent in exile, jumping from country to country. Somewhat of a sad ending, but the book really made the coins in my collection come alive. Coins, which, are probably some of the most beautiful issues from any nation on the planet during the 20th century.

I would like to personally thank Bernd for bringing me the knowlage of such a great yet tradgic man. The idea that the albanian rallies could amount to such horrid tales of delusion and defeat makes me proud to be american. I don't take risks with books. So don't take a risk and loose this one. I love it. I ring her (girl from a few houses down)up, and ask if sheis in love with me. .... again.

As I began reading this volume, I was immediately put off by such statements as "..in Albania more or less nothing worked, nothing was available, and no one knew anything." or "duplicity and trickery were the currency of everyday life" or "Cynicism was intelligence, fairness stupidity." And to take a final, random example, "If there was one consistent trait the Albanians shared, it was to charge the foreigner the absolute maximum the market would bear." On top of such wildly general statements, the author allowed himself the use of such words as Wop and Froggy, expressing here and there his dislike of the strictures of political correctness. While not entirely disagreeing with that last point, I still don't like books that make use of such rubbish terms that add absolutely nothing to the topic at hand. So, I must say that I got off to a bad start with THE ACCURSED MOUNTAINS. I kept reading and now I am glad I did. In many ways the picture Carver draws is very accurate, and somehow, despite himself, he seems ultimately to like some of the people he meets. The further he was able to retreat into the past, the high mountains of the northern highlands where even the all-embracing Communism of the Hoxha years could not much penetrate, the happier he seems and the less likely to make sweeping negative statements. I have the ability to comment on his opinions because, strangely enough, I was travelling through Albania at exactly the same time he was--mid-1996---though not for as long. I did not have any contacts at all. The picture Carver gives of the economic situation is absolutely true--utter desolation, back to zero. As he had more political contacts, he could find out more than I did, but what he wrote rang very true to me. The politics of family, clan, and tribe had sprung back as if it had never been gone (it hadn't)and the words 'compromise', 'consensus' and 'practical program' seemed unknown. Where I disagree with Carver is in the nature of the Albanian people. Allowing for the two facts that a) the entire economy had totally collapsed and b)it was a Third World economy anyway, it was amazing to me how honest everyone was. In the weeks that I was there, nobody cheated us, only a couple minor attempts were made even to try, and desperately poor street vendors would return you the correct change even if you had understood "50" instead of "15" due to poor Albanian. Dirt poor people would insist on paying for your coffee, your drinks; hospitality was universal. Con-men existed, but primarily in the world of package tourism, which, despite Carver's denial, did seem to be getting a toehold at that time. Carver reports roadblocks where police extorted money from bus and van drivers every few miles (it seems). I travelled from north to south, east to west, on regular buses, quick vans, taxis, newspaper delivery vans, and the train, never finding even one instance of this, though wide travels elsewhere in the Third World make me aware of how common it is. Carver sees bandits on the road---oops, they are only a bunch of refugee kids. He almost gets shot on a desolate road but---oops, the pistols all fire at a target set up a moment ago. The Macedonian border was shut off but---oops, I went through it with no difficulty. I can easily share his feelings of anxiety--and equally shared the experience of being warned in America before leaving that Albanians were thieves, murderers, bandits, etc. But somehow my fears dissolved while his did not. If you don't mind living with those fears, despite the hospitality he received, the kindness of people who had next to nothing, but shared it with him, then you ought to read this book, ignoring some of the parts that try to make Albania sound much more horrendous than it is (or was in 1996). I share Carver's vision of the rising tide of desperate Third World people who are going to overwhelm the more organized countries in search of order and prosperity, thereby destroying what they came for. Albania's tragedy is yet another one, sending out floods of desperate people. There was no need to make it worse than it is.

Although at times I felt Carver's criticism, or rather sterotypes/generalizations, of Albanians were a bit harsh, I also found a great deal of truth in them. As someone who has lived and traveled extensively in Northern Albania (where the book is set) I can identify Carver. Like the author and many non-albanians that have spent time there, I developed a love-hate relationship with the country (pardon the cliche). I think he provides as objective a critique and response to his travel as possible while being emotionally involved with his subjects. Many readers (some of them Albanian) have criticized
Carver for the negative impressions that he gives of the country. My response to that is that Albanians are one of the proudest people I have ever meet and have a great deal of trouble admitting that corruption, poverty, and a great deal of violence exist within their country. Don't get me wrong, I love the country and the people. Things have changed since Carver wrote the book, some things have improved, some have got worse. The violence exists, it's still there and in many ways has intensified. I would reccomend this book to anyone who is mildly interested in the country or its history. However, remember that while reading it that many of the problems that Carver recounts exist in American and Western European Cultures....and, much like the Albanians we don't want to own them. As another reader points out, many of the words and sentences in the book are in Albanian, Italian, and Greek which didn't bother me as I have a working knowledge of the languages (and admittedly, he should have had an italian and albanian publicist look over the book, because there are several errors) I feel that it adds a great deal to the book, but may be intimidating to someone who doesn't understand these languages.

What a great book to read while on a plane, a bus, or train. This book contained many familiar references and pictures, as I'd traveled through Albania the same year as the author. Had I known what he experienced, I'd probably have reconsidered my trip! While I had no problems, Carver's travelogue takes the reader through incredible experiences with a variety of people that illustrate the Albanian mind, so unique these days, having been isolated for 50 years under a repressive dictator. The amazing thing is that it's non-fiction. This is a fascinating country, and this book takes you on a clearly on-tourist look at the people, landscape, and culture.