The Macedonian Question: Britain and the Southern Balkans, 1939–1949, by Dimitris Livanios

Abstract

Given the nationalist hysteria in contemporary Greece that surrounds the Macedonian Question, one in which a large part of the Greek intellectual class is complicit, it is refreshing to read a historical monograph about the subject written by a Greek historian based at a university in Greece—in Thessaloniki, the principal city of Greek Macedonia, no less—that is not only erudite and thoughtful but scrupulously dispassionate. Based primarily on research conducted in British archives, Dimitris Livanios’ masterful study of Britain and the Macedonian Question, centring on the decade ending in 1949, is a delight to read. More for better than for worse, the book extends considerably beyond the topic of its title, meandering to focus alternately on local conditions in Macedonia, regional Balkan politics and British views regarding both the Macedonian Question and the Balkans. The somewhat imprecise focus may have been dictated by the book’s particular reliance on British Foreign Office documents: the region is necessarily perceived through British lenses, but the author allows Britain (and, indeed, the Macedonian Question itself) to drop out of the picture when his narrative, his interest or his sources take him elsewhere. This is a minor criticism, for the reader can only finish the book with a better understanding of all its principal topics.