REVIEWS 561 clearly differentiated' inearlynineteenth-century Russiaand thatwomen,like men,'functioned within a private realmthathad a publicface'(p.28).A more forceful and sustained consideration oftheproblematic status of'domesticity' for noblewomen wouldhavestrengthened parts ofthis fine andwell-researched book.Byraising important questions aboutthemeaning ofwomen'scivicand political identity through theprism ofphilanthropy, Rosslyn's Deeds, NotWords makesa realcontribution to thehistory ofwomenin ImperialRussia. NewYork Michelle LamargheMarrese Okey,Robin. Taming BalkanNationalism: TheHabsburg 'Civilizing Mission3 in Bosnia, i8j8-igi4. OxfordUniversity Press,Oxfordand NewYork,2007. xvi+ 346 pp. Maps. Notes.Bibliography. Index.£55.00. If one disregards theimmenseflowof oftenshallowliterature on thewar in Bosniaand Hercegovinaduringthe1990s,thereis no otherperiodin its history thathas attracted moreattention thanthefourdecades ofAustriaHungary 's rule(1878-1918). Thereare at leastthreereasonsforthisinterest, especiallyevidentin the historiographie productionof the German and South Slavic languages.First,thisperiodmarksa profound changein the history ofBosnia,whichsawcenturies of'despotic'Ottomanrulereplacedby 'enlightened' occupationby a Western power.This remarkable exampleof theencounter between'West'and 'East' on Europeansoilraisesimportant issuesaboutthenatureofEuropeanimperialism, colonialism and orientalism. Secondly, itwasthekeynation-building periodforallthree peoplesinhabiting Bosnia and Hercegovina, responsible forgenerating thegreatest interest in theirrespective national(ist) historiographies. Its spectacular ending,marked by the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Crown Prince,ArchdukeFranz Ferdinand,and the ensuingFirstWorldWar, accountedforinternational attention. Lastbutnotleast,Austria-Hungary maintained meticulous records ofitsadministration, mostofwhichare preserved to date. It thusoffers an unsurpassed treasury to historians interested in subjects ranging from railway building and ruraleducationtotapestry patterns, a rareprivilege in thispart oftheworld,whichgenerations ofhistorians have accordingly made use of. However,besides Robert Donia's monographon the Muslim movement forautonomy (Boulder, CO, 1981)and PeterSugar'sbookon industrialization (Seattle,WA, 1963) thereare no monographson the period in English. Recently, JelenaMilojkovic-Djuric (Boulder, CO, 2002)presented in English a synthesis oftheworkofSerbianhistorians, focusing on culture and education ,whichis centralto Robin Okey'sbook underreviewhere.But Taming Balkan Nationalism, despiteitsunfortunate title, is muchmore.It analysesthe Habsburg'civilizing mission'in Bosniaand follows itskeyaspects, suchas its politicaland economicadministration, education,culture, and especially its relationship withits threeconfessional communities, whichin the course ofHabsburgruletransformed intonationalentities. In itsapproachit goes farbeyondthe existing and usuallypositivist and nationalist studiesand 562 SEER, 87, 3, JULY 2OO9 contextualizesits findingswithin ongoing debates on the origins of nationalism, thetransfer ofideas from Westto East and the'clashbetween civilizations'. Forspecialists thepublication ofthisbookand itsmainarguments are not a novelty. It is based on Okey'sPhD, defended in Oxfordback in 1972.It includesextensive researchin theBosnianStateArchives, Haus-, Hof-und Staatsarchiv inVienna,Archives oftheSerbianand CroatianAcademyand, mostimportantly andleastsurveyed inother studies, theHungarianStateand Military Archives andNationalLibrary andReformed ChurchArchive, which containthepersonalpapersoftwoBosniangovernors, Benjaminvon Kalláy and IstvánBurián,as well as thatof Kalláy's intellectual alterego, Lajos Thallóczy.The threeofthemformed whatOkeyterms the'Trio ofHungarianBalkanists '. Butfarfrom relying solely ona topdownapproach, theauthor has also consultedcontemporary local newspapersand periodicalsand intertwines hisgeneralchronological narrative withthelifestories ofsomeof themoreor lessprominent representatives oftheBosniangoverned peoples, based on their writings and correspondence. In addition, forthisbookOkey has surveyed all therelevant literature whichhas sinceappearedintheSouth Slaviclanguages, Hungarian, Germanand English. Some of the highlights of Okey'sresearchhave alreadybeen published as articles,such as the one on the HungarianBalkanists, but only this book-length study doesjusticetoOkey'salmostlife-long engagement withthe subjectand thenumberofcontroversies thatsurround it. Giventhehighly polemicaland subjective tonecharacterizing mostoftheotherwriting on the period,it is almostsurprising thatOkey rarelyentersintodiscussion with previous works.This is hardlya shortcoming butan obviousdecisionmade bytheauthortoletsources speakforthemselves. On therareoccasionswhen Okeydoes enterthedebate,he delivers an unbiasedand balancedpresentationofexisting judgements and triesto resolveconflicting interpretations by illuminating thecomplexities ofAustria-Hungary's ruleinBosnia,thefragility ofEmpireitself, and thedivisions within each ofBosnia'sthreepeoples. In brief, Okeyeffectively demonstrates Kalláy'spersonaland authoritarian rule,especially emphasizing itsconfessionalizing strategy whereby Bosnians weretreated as religious rather thannationalgroupstobe governed through religious hierarchies. In Kalláy'smodernist paradigm thelegitimizing modernizingprinciple was identified solelywiththe Habsburgstate.The strategy of setting clergyagainstlaitythatthe monarchy so successfully employed elsewhere simply did notworkin theBosniancontext, however.Okeyconcludeshisdetaileddescription ofKallay'sdealings withtheSerbcommunities withthecontention that£hewantedto smokeout thehornets' nest,and it began to sting'(p. 91). Eventually, Kallay'spoliciesarousedmovements for lay-dominated cultural autonomy amongtheSerbsand Muslimsand turned itsyouth intothesecularand socialist campofSarajevoassassins. Traditionalistsopposedoccupational interference and omnipresence, whereasWesternized elements, including theMuslims, grewimpatient withthestately tempo favoured bya conservative imperial power(p. 253).Yet Okeywarnsagainst simplydismissing theAustro-Hungarian Westernizing missionas a failure, REVIEWS 563 and pointsto Bosnia'stroubled history since1918,notinghow all partiesto the occupationfoundthemselves profoundly challengedby a rapidityof changethattheywereunableto control.Ratherthanfailure, he argues,it was the'unevenness ofthedevelopments brought byHabsburgrule[which] createduncertainties, bredtension, threatening thesmooth integration which had alwaysbeen thecultural mission's policygoal' (p. 217).As...