Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136491 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 298 pages

Customer Reviews

GREAT LITTLE BOOK!
IT'S GOT ALL THE NECESSARY INFO., ABOUT ROMANIAN HISTORY. NICE PICTURES TOO, HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

Essential reading for the Romanian-bound traveller
This book is an excellent survey of Romanian history, from the prehistoric period to the aftermath of the Communist era. It was the best history book on the subject I've read, and although it doesn't really warrant the term "fully" illustrated, it contains over 100 images, many of which I've never seen published before. Actually, Nicolae Klepper does a lot more than write a national history, as the book is grounded throughout in Romanian art, architecture, music, culture, gastronomy and custom. The author has mixed all this together to produce an extremely readable history book, a must for anyone planning to visit the country.

Overall OK Book
The book did present a number of "facts" that weren't available in other Romanian history books I've read (though some were rehashes of the Party line taken by the communist "historians" and "revisionists"). It would have been nice to let us know when some of these facts came from communist-era historians who, it seems, more often than not wrote a form of Romanian mythology instead of a Romanian history. And at times, I was lost while reading ... not sure what timeframe I was in. The book could have used a little more organizational effort. Maybe in a future reprint. Still, there was enough useful information to make the book worthwhile reading.