Product Description

The first English-language book to present a complete picture of this intriguing East European borderland, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture, illuminates the perennial problems of identity politics and cultural change that the country has endured. Throughout the past two centuries, Moldova was the object of a variety of culture-building efforts from Russian, Romanian, and Soviet influences before emerging as an independent state in 1991. The author

Highlights the political uses of culture—the ways in which language, history, and identity can be manipulated by political elites

Examines why some attempts to mold identity succeed where others fail

Reveals why, in the case of Moldova, a project of identity construction succeeded in creating a state but failed to make an independent nation

"Thoroughly researched, engagingly written, and completely up to date, this is a definitive book that will long serve as the best study of Moldova in any language . . . . Its strategic and precarious location between the Balkans and the former Soviet Union and its complex ethnic composition make Moldova a fragile new nation well worth knowing about." Daniel Chirot, Professor of International Studies

Jackson School of International Studies

University of Washington

"An erudite and perceptive book. Required reading for all those who want to fathom the relationship between national identity, nation-building, political traditions, and cultural yearnings in one of eastern Europe's least known and understood countries. King uses historical, political, economic, and cultural approaches to challenge old stereotypes and to propose a novel, original perspective on the peoples of Bessarabia and Transnistria." Vladimir Tismaneanu, Professor of Government and Politics University of Maryland (College Park)

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #382944 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 303 pages

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Customer Reviews

Exceptional and thorough.
This is an exceptional and thorough review of the history of Moldova up to, during, and after the transition to independence from the Soviet Union by an outstanding scholar. While replete with scholarly notes and bibliography, it is also readily accessable to the non-specialist seeking to understand this very interesting country.

Excellently Written
Charles King's "The Moldovans" is an excellently written history of a little known East European borderland and its intriguing people. While its physical appearance and membership in the Hoover Institute's old "Nationalities of the USSR" series may indicate dry and rigid academic work, it is certainly not.
King here has written an interesting history of the Bessarabian/Moldovan people, the first in English, through the context of nation and national identity building. History buffs and area enthusiasts will find themselves enjoying the blend of history, politics and more recent events within newly independent Moldova. For an introduction and some answers to the convoluted and confusing intra-state conflict with the DMR (Transnistria), look here.
The subject could be considered college reading but the writing is clean, clear and professional at a point where you know a highly laudable individual is behind this work, but not some Cornell West writing for the benefit of his fellow academics. King's history is incredibly lucid and readable. This is good history as it should be.

Tries to be unbiased and neutral
Charles King, the author of the book, is an assistant professor in the School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government at Georgetown University. Funding for the research on which this book is based, was provided at various stages by the British Marshall Commemoration Commission, in the form of a British Marshal Scholarsip; St. Antony's College and New College, Oxford; the Social Science Research Council, via a Graduate Training Fellowship; and Georgetown University, through the Ion Ratiu Chair of Romanian Studies, to which the author was elected in 1996. Although the author tries to be unbiased and wants to keep neutral point of view, the book somewhat reflects the point of view supported by the organizations above mentioned, and also by the official political point of view of Western countries towards the Republic of Moldova (RM) at a time of writing of this book, although the archival and library resources used by the author were located mainly in Romania and RM. The major sources of information were The Central Historical Archive Division of the National Archives of Romania in Bucharest; the former archive of the Communist Party of Moldova (now renamed to the Archive of Social-Political Organizations of the Republic of Moldova); as well as other sources.

I have used this book as a source of Historical Data to contribute to Wikipedia articles related to Moldova.