Product Description
The last few months have seen renewed upheavals in Romania; with the miners calling for a new government that will address the deepening economic crisis, and the Iliescu government responding with the threat to impose martial law. The scenes in the streets of Bucharest have been reminiscent of the December 1989 uprising which overthrew Nicholae Ceausescu. Within months of the 1989 revolution, Romania was torn by ethnic conflict, by the deployment of worker paramilitaries on the streets, by the reappearance of the secret police and by a fraudulent election. The revolution had been "hijacked" and the legacy of violence and absence of democracy have continued to haunt Romanian society. Martin Rady's account of a country barely understood in the West, explains not just the bloody course of recent events, from Timisoara to the miners, but analyzes also the older and deeper tends which dominate Romanian politics. Native fascism, inter-ethnic rivalry and authoritarian rule are rooted as much in the turmoil that has marked Romanian history over centuries as in the Ceausescu years.Indeed, it can be argued that Ceausescu was, above all, the product of a deeply authoritarian culture, and not simply an isolated dictator. This account looks to Romania's past in order to understand the events of today, exploring the likelihood of real elections and the emergence of a government accountable to its people. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

roumania
In many ways this book compares favourably to recent literature and is a good starting point for any academic or journalist who wishes to gain an insight into not only roumania but central european mentality ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The capital book on romanian history
If, by any chance, you feel like reading something about who romaniansare, this could be your text book. Full of data, it is also pleasentlywritten. Unfortunately, it stops in the mid twenties, so it doesn't coverthe dark communist era. ... Read more

Product Description
This extensive bibliography of North American and West European social sciences research on Romania is also the only annotated bibliography to date on life under the iron rule of Ceausescu. A one-stop source of information about Romania's recent communist history, this guide pulls together over 1,000 citations from books, periodicals, reports, occasional papers, doctoral dissertations, and government documents in English as well as representative source materials in French and German. Students, teachers, librarians, and researchers in East European studies and international relations will find this research guide, with 21 topical chapters and author and subject indexes, invaluable in helping close a major information gap about this dark chapter in Romania's history. ... Read more

Product Description
After fifteen years of transition in the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe it has become clear that for a substantial number the objective of reform and restructuring process is a market system in line with membership of the EU. In this study the long term economic transformation of Romania is studied, offering a detailed narrative and thematic account of events from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. From the first steps towards large scale industrialisation begun prior to the First World War, through the accelerated pace set by the communist regime after 1945 and the uncertainty following its subsequent collapse in 1989, the book addresses a wide range of pertinent issues that have shaped Romania's economic development. The study also offers an interpretation of a distinctive phase in the modernisation of post-communist Romania, supported by economic-historical surveys of the proceeding century as a context for recent restructuring on the eve of EU accession. This is linked with trends in the region as a whole so that a broad perspective is maintained throughout the book.By highlighting Romania's position as one of more backward accession states and considering in what ways its experience during transition differs from the more developed states of the region, this study offers a valuable insight into both the history of Romania, and its future prospects. Furthermore it provides a valuable case study that can be compared and contracted with other countries who are likewise still grappling with the legacy of a centralised economy, and in the process of adopting a more market orientated approach in order to gain EU membership. As such this study will be of interest not only to historians and economists, but anyone with an interest in the expansion of the European Union. ... Read more

Product Description
Yosef Govrin was the Israeli Ambassador to Romania in the twilight of the communist era. Govrin describes Israeli-Romanian relations as he observed them from 1985 to 1989 after which the leader of Romania was deposed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a superb historical tale
This is a wonderful book, continuing the tradition of very high quality output from the Center for Romanian Studies.It tells the story, in great and fascinating detail, of the rise of fascism and official anti-semitism in Hungary and Romania betweenthe World Wars.It is a story of the consequences of Versailles -- Hungary got a much worse deal there than the much better known raw deal received by Germany -- of the consequences of different paths of economic development -- both Hungary and Romania suffered from their different histories of economic stratification and (especially in Romania) rural underdevelopment -- and of the consequences of the actions of important individuals -- Admiral Horthy in Hungary, King Carol and Marshall Antonescu in Romania, and the various leaders of fascist movements in both countries.
In each country the story is told slowly and carefully from the time of the Treaty of Versailles (though with plenty of pre-Versailles context) through the onset of economic depression to the end of World War II and beyond.Beleaguered governments, some cynical and some less so, try to navigate between politically powerful landed classes, disenfranchised but sizable groups of peasants, and, in Hungary at least, an important and largely Jewish middle class, with Hitler's shadow growing all the while.Horthy and other Hungarian politicians come out of this looking pretty bad, as does Carol of Romania, while Romania's Antonescu appears as a decent man trying to cope with an increasingly hopeless domestic and international situation (his current posthumous role as a hero and symbol of the Greater Romania party notwithstanding).
All in all, this is a remarkable book.I don't know to what degree it was "revised and updated" from the 1970 original before its author's recent death.Readers interested in this part of the world or this period of history will find it quite valuable.
Other recommendations:
1.On the historical background in Romania, Paul Michelson, Romanian Politics 1859-1971 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998) and Frederick Kellogg, The Road to Romanian Independence (Purdue, 1995)
2.On the tightening of the German and Russian noose around Romania, and the vain Romanian hopes for Western (especially French) intervention, Alexandru Cretzianu, Relapse into Bondage:Political Memoirs of a Romanian Diplomat 1918-1947 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998)
3.On life in Romania during this period, the remarkable Journal 1935-1944:The Fascist Years, by Mihail Sebastian (Ivan R. Dee, 2000) ... Read more

Product Description
Since Romania entered the EU, the murky territorial questions on her northeastern border have started to receive more attention. What are Moldova, Bassarabia, and Transnistria; and how did they wind up suspended between Romania and Russia?
Since Romania entered the EU, the murky territorial questions on her northeastern border have started to receive more attention. What are Moldova, Bassarabia, and Transnistria; and how did they wind up suspended between Romania and Russia ?


With Wilson's famous 14 points, after the First World War, the nationality principle was first upheld as the basis for the creation of new states and for the recombining portions of existing states. How did the interpretation of the principle change in the ensuing years; how consistently was it applied; and in whose interests?


This book analyzes the problem of the Bessarabian Treaty, and offers a glimpse of Romanian foreign policy in the 1920's. Under the Treaty, the de facto unification of Bessarabia with Romania was officially recognized - a great success for Romania. Why, then, did that territory end up under Soviet control (in the " Republic of Moldavia ")?


Mitrasca has sifted through unpublished documents from the national archives of Japan, Romania, Great Britain, France and Italy, and presents excerpts to back up his analysis of diplomatic maneuvering between the World Wars. What could Romania's territorial refinements have mattered to Japan ? What was Italy's interest? And why was the United States the only Great power to steadfastly refuse to acknowledge Bassarabia's union with Romania ? Mitrasca pieces together the evidence, analyzing the overt and covert negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference and in embassies around the world, and traces the evolving situation that in the end produced a result quite different from what was apparently intended in 1920. ... Read more

Product Description
In the post-communist era it has become evident that the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe will be determined by many factors, only some of them political.Throughout the region, the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Greek Catholic churches have tried to impose their views on democracy through direct political engagement.Moreover, surveys show that the churches (and the army) enjoy more popular confidence than elected political bodies such as parliaments.These results reflect widespread disenchantment with a democratization process that has allowed politicians to advance their own agendas rather than work to solve the urgent socio-economic problems these countries face.In this penetrating study, Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu investigate the interaction of religion and politics in one such country, Romania.Facing internal challenges and external competitions from other religions old and new, the Orthodox Church in Romania has sought to consolidate its position and ensure Romania's version of democracy recognizes its privileged position of "national Church", enforcing the Church's stances on issues such as homosexuality and abortion.The post-communist state and political elite in turn rely on the Church for compliance with educational and cultural policies and to quell the insistent demands of the Hungarian minority for autonomy.
Stan and Turcescu examine the complex relationship between church and state in this new Romania, providing analysis in key areas: church collaboration with communist authorities, post-communist electoral politics, nationalism and ethno-politics, restitution of Greek Catholic property, religious education, and sexual behavior and reproduction.As the first scholars to be given access to confidential materials from the archives of the communist political police, the notorious Securitate, Stan and Turcescu also examine church archives, legislation, news reports, and interviews with politicians and church leaders. This study will move the debate from common analyses of nationalism in isolation to more comprehensive investigations which consider the impact of religious actors on a multitude of other issues relevant to the political and social life of the country. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Introduction
As a student of international relations with a specialization in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, I greatly enjoyed this book.Religion is an important factor in much of international relations, especially the Balkans, and this book admits and embraces that fact.

It exists as what I hope is merely an introduction.Each chapter could one day be expanded into larger work on individual topics like religious influence on sexual policies, religious minorities (like Greek Catholics) in Romania, etc.For a country as large as Romania, it often gets ignored for study of Yugoslavia and Kosovo by scholars in the modern era.While both authors are of Romanian background, they take a balanced view, admitting when things are detrimental, but also noting when American scholarship may be biased towards strict separation of church and state that may not be applicable everywhere in the world.

For anybody interested in religion in politics, the Balkans, or Romania in particular, this book is a great introduction to the modern era. ... Read more

Product Description
A Jewish leader's 1946 report about the murder of 400,000 Romanian Jews, which was suppressed for over forty years by the Romanian government. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the first historical mentions of an armed conflict in what is now Romania dates back to 335 B.C., when, prior to launching his legendary Asian campaign, Alexander the Great organized an expedition over the Western shore of the Danube to deter the Gaets and secure the frontier of the Macedonian Kingdom. Since then, the land located on the Black Sea and nestled amongst the Carpathian Mountains has seen more than its fair share of military struggles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ideal for world military history and reference shelves.
Romanian armed forces colonel Calin Hentea presents Brief Romanian Military History, a concise chronology and summary of conflicts in Romania from the 6th Century BC to the modern day. Thirty-five pages are devoted to the chronology alone; then, each chapter is divided into numerous short sections that describe a specific event, discovery, advance in military technology, or other turning point in Romanian Military History. Notes and a handful of black-and-white photographs and illustrations embellish this serious-minded, fact-heavy reference, ideal for world military history and reference shelves. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of essays deals primarily with the Byzantine area of Romania from the 10th to the 15th century. Several of the essays are concerned with the Empire in general or, more specifically, with its capital, Asia Minor or Crete. Other essays explore the Byzantine territories conquered by the Latins in the early 13th century and articles also provide information on, and insights into Romania's relations with the West, the crusader states, and Egypt. ... Read more

Product Description
SynopsisThe granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Tsar Alexander II of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania was one of the most brilliant monarchs of the twentieth century. She distinguished herself not only during the years of the First World War through her charity activities or through her informal political-diplomatic effort, but also because she was a gifted writer. This recently discovered last volume of her memoirs, entitled Later Chapters of My Life - long believed to have been destroyed - covers the period following the First World War, the economic recovery, and the new political configuration in reunited Romania. The 1919 Peace Conference - at which she informally represented the country's interests, meeting Clemenceau, Poincare and Hoover, Queen Marie's informal visits to Paris and London, where she stayed with George V and Queen Mary, and her visit in Transylvania, are broadly depicted in these lost chapters. The memoirs also contain other details about the royal family, her last meeting with her mother, the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, in Switzerland, the first parliament of Greater Romania, social reconstruction, the charity activities co-ordinated by the queen, and the Coronation (1922). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good Book for a fan of European royals..
I only knew Queen marie to be a Grand daughter of Queen victoria and whate ever I read in the wikipedia. But this book made me realise what an extraordinery person she is.

A little self congratulatory but still interesting
The autobiography of Marie, Queen of Romania, is well written, but somewhat florid and self congratulatory in its attempts to describe her feelings about events, particularly her appointment as the "face of Romania" at the Paris talks that brought the end of world war one in 1919.Her style is best when she is most lacking in self consciousness.Her estimates of the various players at the peace conference are penetrating and probably correct.Certainly her description of the war torn countryside of Europe through which she passed are graphic and emotionally moving visions.

The book is probably most charming in its depiction of the family relationships within her own immediate household and in her extended family.The characterizations, especially of Edward and Queen Mary of England, provide a much more intimate picture of the royal family than most biographical and historical works are able to do.

That this is significant to an understanding of the period is very evident when one realizes how throughly interrelated were all of the royal families of Europe.For them, the world war was not just a political issue, it was a family feud.Most of the contenders, with the exception of the United States, were countries lead by various descendants of Queen Victoria.In short, almost everyone on both sides of the conflict were cousins, aunts, uncles, evenparents.That the conflict lead to emotional agony for many is certain, as the account of Maries' last meeting with her mother Alexandra shows.The authoress herself realizes that the world has changed, that her mother has little place in it, and at the end of her own life, that she herself has little place in it.

What she doesn't seem to realize is that the war was actually the death knell of the monarchical form of government and lifestyle as it had beenpracticed. Hereditary rule was being replaced by other ways of selecting governors.Marie's amusement over the American volunteers and their curiosity about a "real" queen reveals this blinkered point of view.Her use of the terms "peasants" in respect to the rural population of her country and her patronizing attitude toward them reveals the pitfalls into which this ancient form of government was headed and into which the Russian branch of "the Family" had already fallen.

That Queen Marie was still functioning in the ancient mode of monarchy herself is apparent by the pride with which she recounts the connections she arranged for her children with other royal houses, arrangements which would hardly last much past her own life.The photo of the "Three Queens and the Infante of Spain"--Marie, two of her daughters and her younger sister Beatrice--is a little sad.The emotionally drained, almost tragic face of Beatrice, already facing issues in Spain, is virtually a prophecy for the three smiling queens in the future.Knowing as one does the end of the story, one can hardly be unmoved by the tender family scene the photo portrays:the last happy days.

One has the sense that the lady was enough aware of world affairs and of the ways of the world to know already at the end of her life that Europe was again headed for a major war.Though she probably penned these last memoirs to preserve them from her son Carol II's interference, she probably also wrote them as a coda for the war through which she herself had lived and in which she had taken an active part.

She certainly seems to have been abundantly aware of the failings of the 1919 peace accords even as they were being pounded out and signed.Most who study the two world wars as history congratulate themselves over seeing that the seeds of the second were sown in the first; but then, hindsight is 20-20.For the Queen, however, this knowledge was foresight.It was as if she alone could see, at the very beginning, that Europe had set itself up for a second great war by its own unwillingness to forgive.

This is perhaps the very point at which the change in the political intellect changed.The cardinal point at which Monarchy died and Democracy/Socialism begins.The family feud was settled by outsiders, so-to-speak, making punishment and reparationthe rules of the day.Family cannot afford to do this.Family must remember that it depends on all of its members, that it has interests in common, that hurt feelings have to be addressed.Democracy/Socialism knows no "feelings."Rule by the Demos-Athens aside-is a relatively new phenomenon, and it still has to struggle to learn what thousands of years of monarchy had learned the hard way. Marie is painfully aware that the terms of the peace agreement would not work, that it would cause anger and hate, and ultimately war.The years of peace were only going to be a period of catching political breath before the fight began again in ernest and with more ferocity.The so-called Great War would just be round one.

My only complaint is that the authoress did not describe more events and more people.Much of the book is a repetitious self congratulation, an awareness of her place in history.This leads to saying the same thing in a dozen different ways which I found frustrating.The prose style moves along more smoothly when the author is focusing on others and events.Admittedly the book is an autobiography and the author a queen not a jounalist, but it could have used more focus.She doesn't really hit her stride until about a third of the way through the book, but by the final chapter one is wanting to hear more.

... Read more

Product Description
The first volume of a three volume history of Transylvania is designed to present Transylvanian history in a European context and with due attention to Transylvania´s links to Hungary, the Habsburg Empire, the Romanian Principalities, Turkey and other states of Europe. The comparative approach is also prominent in the presentation of Transylvania´s internal affairs in that the authors address the history -demographic, economic, social, political and cultural -of the three major national groups: Romanian, Hungarian, and Saxon. ... Read more

Product Description

In 1927, the young Romanian student and journalist Mircea Eliade encouraged his fellow
young Romanians to look for new "experiences," setting himself as an
example through his own adventures in India. Until 1934, when the idea
suddenly disappeared, young Romanians were obsessed with the idea of
experience. In this fascinating study, Philip Vanhaelemeersch considers
the social, cultural, and political history behind this short-lived
intellectual fashion.

The Romanian idea of experience was a late
product of World War I. For Romanians born between 1905 and 1911,
experientialism functioned as a way to recapture their missed childhood
years during the war and as a substitute for the fact that they unable to play a role in
the building of the new, Greater Romania after 1919. In 1925, these
children entered Romanian universities, and two years later they
launched themselves as the "new generation." However, they were not the
first group of Romanians to call themselves this-similar claims had been
made a few years before by the students entering Romanian universities
immediately after the war. Vanhaelemeersch argues that the best way to
approach this history is to abandon all generational terminology.
Instead, he looks at the idea of "experience," reconstructing its
genesis to understand these individuals' desire to be perceived as a
new and distinct "generation."

Product Description
After the violent upheaval and bloodshed that accompanied the collapse of one of the most brutal Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, Romania has made important progress in the development of a democratic political system and in the building of a market economy. Written by an American specialist and a Romanian scholar, the " Historical Dictionary of Romania" is an essential, up-to-date reference work on this country. Its concise dictionary entries detail the important people, places, events, and institutions in the new Romania as well as its previous regimes. It also provides significant detail about Romania's economy, society, political situation, language, and culture. A comprehensive bibliography, divided by subject, allows scholars access to additional sources of information. The introduction gives a brief overview of the county's geography, history, population, and history. This handy reference work also includes two maps, a chronology, and a list of rulers of Romania. ... Read more

Product Description
A central element in the formation of Eastern European state socialism, the collectivization of agriculture touched the lives of many more citizens than the transformations in industry. Despite its profound long-term socio-political implications, the process of land collectivization has not been subject to comprehensive research. The product of an interdisciplinary project, this book fills this lacuna in the academic literature: a highly integrated, theory-driven collective work of leading historians, anthropologists, sociologists and literary critics from the US, the UK, Hungary and Romania. The book analyzes the campaign of collectivization in Romania, between 1949 and 1962. Parallel to presenting national policies and practices (i.e., property legislation, and political debates), field research explores in case studies, working across a broad span of communities and experiences, what types of new peasant-state relations were formed through collectivization. ... Read more

Product Description
Since 1989 Romania has gone from communist isolation under the megalomaniac Nicolae Ceauescu to being a key player in America's war against terrorism. Because of this strategic location it has become a front-line state for nervous Western governments keen to secure oil routes from the Middle East. It joined NATO in 2004 and is due to enter the European Union in 2007-08 despite its economy being unprepared to meet the competition challenges from established members. Tom Gallagher analyses how the country is seeking to recover from a disastrous period in its history while many of the key legacies of dictatorship remain. Having lynched the discredited Ceauescu in 1989, former acolytes have spent the past fifteen years trying to retain a monopoly of control behind the facade of a Western-style democracy. They combined their political ambitions with acquiring the control of vast amounts of private property denied to them by Ceauescu. Political institutions were given a facelift, as in the case of the intelligence services which became a crucial power-base for the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD). The state continued to be used to serve narrow private interests.Replacing the communist dynasty of the Ceauescus, there is now an oligarchy drawn from the PSD and its satellites in the bureaucracy, major industries, and the intelligence world which grew wealthy through insider privatisation and the looting of the country's banks. Romania is now at a crucial turning-point. In 2004 the mobilisation of civil society contributed to the narrow victory of Traian B sescu in presidential elections. It is unclear whether he can win control over the key levers of state necessary to stem the corruption and abuse of power which have blighted Romania's hopes of breaking free from its communist-era legacy. The PSD is now led by Mircea Geoana, the son of a general in Ceauescu's Securitate. He has recruited a string of Western politicians to block pressure for meaningful change from Brussels and to ensure that accession to the EU occurs without serious reform. ... Read more

Product Description
These volumes of a three-volume history of Transylvania are designed to present Transylvanian history in a European context and with due attention to Transylvania´s links to Hungary, the Habsburg Empire, the Romanian Principalities, Turkey and other states of Europe. The comparative approach is also prominent in the presentation of Transylvania´s internal affairs in that the authors address the history -demographic, economic, social, political and cultural -of the three major national groups: Romanian, Hungarian, and Saxon. ... Read more