REVIEWS 74I of one shared and three separate traditions. Organically linked as they are [... .] not to see, or not to want to see, any one member of this complicated combination means consenting to the impoverishment of one's own being' (p. 224). To look at Bosnia Herzegovina from the point of view of great power politics and any ideology, national or other, is to despair of ever finding a solution. Lovrenovic suggests that to make a systematic attempt at another way the way of culture may be more promising. 'Perhapsthisis the only way, the only manner of thinkingand living in which the tension between our Bosnian and our national components can be resolved' (p. 228) This profoundly refreshingand hopeful book should be read by everyone with an interestin and concern forthe futureof Bosnia and Herzegovina. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies CELIA HAWKESWORTH University College London Bich, Mikhas',et al. Histagychny shliakh belaruskai natsyi i dziarzhavy / TheHistory oftheBelarusian NationandState. Belaruskiknihazbor,Minsk,200I. 208 pp. Figures.Maps. Illustrations.Priceunknown. THIS bilingualbook, produced by the late Mikhas'Bich and a large collective of authors, has an immensely ambitious and important purpose: it is an attemptby the InternationalAssociation of the BelarusianPeople 'Batskaushchyna ' (The Fatherland)to remindthe beleagueredBelarusianpeople of their birthright and historical heritage. Lavishly illustrated, it is an attempt to countertheindifferenceand ignoranceprevalentamongsta significantportion of the Belarusianpopulation which has been fosteredfor centuriesby a series of foreign powers, notably Poland and Russia, and, at the present time, by a leader, often described as Europe's last dictator, who appears to associate national aspirationsas a threatto his own position. In thisunhappy situation,where the national symbolof the 'Pahonia'(from the seal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania)is banned, and where the national white-red-white flag has been replaced by the red and green of communist times, the popularization of national history has been a priority for emigre scholars and writers, as also for many writersin metropolitan Belarus, most prominentlyUladzimirKaratkevich(I 930-84) andUladzimirArlou(b. I953), the latter heading the collective of editors. This book offers an illustrated encyclopaedic summaryof more than a thousand yearsof Belarusianhistory. The preface, describedas an 'Addressto the BelarusianPeople', ends with the stirringwords, 'So now, at the turn of the millennium, let us review our great historical inheritance, discover, and establish who we are the People of Belarus'(p. 4). After a review of nation, statehood and culture, there is an analysisof the state of Belarus at the turn of the millennium. This is followed by a long section of 'Papersand Documents' (pp. 6I-I 2 I), 'The History of Belarusin Tables and Diagrams' (pp. I 2I-36), 'PoliticalLeadersand Senior Statesmen in the History of Belarus' (pp. I37-42), 'Belarusian National Symbols' (PP. I44-47), the 'History of Belarus in Maps' (pp. 148-58), the 'Belarusian 742 SEER, 8o, 4, 2002 Diaspora' (pp. I59-63), 'BelarusianSongs and Anthems' (pp. i64-69), and a 'List of Major Events and Dates in the History of Belarus in Chronological Order' (pp. 170-89). The book ends with a statement of the 'Programme "Belarus-2000" '(pp. I90-99) and, finally, of 'The BelarusianNationalPublic Organizing Committee "Belarus-2000" (pp. 200-03 this section alone is given only in Belarusian). Incidentally, it may be noted that well over a hundred full-page illustrations are unnumbered, so that the book is considerably more substantial in size than the pagination implies. Many people in the West know little about Belarus, apart from the activities of its leader and the Chernobyl disaster. This necessary popularizing book, therefore, should be in all Western libraries with Slavonic collections as well as, and perhaps more importantly, in every Belarusian school and institution of higher education. Regrettably, the print-run of a mere 700 copies renders this quite impossible. It is very much to be hoped that a second edition will soon be forthcoming, and that political circumstances within Belarus will allow it to be distributed as widely as it undoubtedly deserves. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ARNOLD MCMILLIN University College London Cornwall, Mark, and Frame, Murray (eds). Scotland andtheSlavs:Cultures in Contact,I500-2000. Oriental Research Partners, Newtonville, MA, 2001. xxvii + 313 PP. Illustrations. Maps. Notes. Select Bibliography. Index. Price unknown. IN some respects, this book...