754 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO nationalism. Ultimately Kállay failed,sincethe idea of a separateBosnian nationalconsciousness foundfewtakers in theDualistperiod;thefinalessay of thebook looksat the development of Bosniakself-identity down to the present. Ress's collection bringsout thecontradictions ofnation-building in thenineteenth-century Balkans.Identities wereinevitably shapedby confessionalloyalties , as well as deeply-rooted misconceptions about the 'other'. Politicians and intellectuals busilyfostered thissenseof difference, and the wholepoisonousmixwas further embittered bythemanipulative policiesof theHabsburgMonarchyand theHungarianpoliticalelite. Grant MacEwan University, Edmonton Ian D. Armour Sundhaussen,Holm. Geschichte Serbiens: 19.-21.Jahrhundert. Böhlau, Vienna, 2007.514pp. Illustrations. Appendices. Maps.Bibliography. Index.€59.00. The last fifteen yearshave seen severalattempts to produce a synthesis of Serbianhistory byjournalists, overnight Balkan specialists and political scientists eagerto accountfortherecentoutburst ofSerbiannationalism, as wellas Serbia'sresponsibility fortheviolent conflicts ofthe1990s.The book underreview hereisquitedistinct from these, bothinregardtothequalificationsof itsauthorand itslong and thorough preparation. Professor Holm Sundhaussen has beentheforemost Germanscholarin Balkanand Yugoslav history fordecades and his history of Serbia is the crowning achievement ofa lifetime's professional occupation, interest andscholarly research. A friend and connoisseur ofSerbiaand Serbs,thefactthatSundhaussen isan outsider has sparedhimfrom theethnocentric and biasedviews- notleastofrevisionism - thathavebeleaguered historical scholarship inSerbiaoverthelast twodecades.The result isan exemplary symbiosis oftwocenturies ofpolitical, socialand cultural history from thefirst uprising againstOttomanrulein 1804 tothechangesemerging after NATO military intervention againstSerbiaand theousting ofMilosevic. Although thebook'stitle suggests a 'history ofa nation',Sundhaussen does notfallintothetrapofnationalhistory-writing withitsnormative and teleologicalimpositions . Instead,on almosteverypage he tacklesmyths, taboos and issuesofmemory as he tracesthedevelopment ofhistorical perceptions and interpretations which have influenced the course of Serbian history. Historicalconcepts,Sundhaussenremindsus, alwaysexistin a spatialand temporalcontext.Followinga loose chronology, Sundhaussenoftenpauses to recreateconcretehistorical imagesand settings. A narrative of complex politicaland social eventsis interwoven withcomparisons withothercountries ,analysisof humanagencyand foreign influences. Especiallyinsightful is the thematization of a numberof Germanor CentralEuropean ideals, precursors of numerousideological,politicaland social developments in Serbia,notleasttheperennial issueofnationalism. Several longue durée issues emerge.First,Serbia's painstaking efforts in modernizing or 'europeanizing' whatwas a deeplytraditional ruralsociety. reviews 755 Meticulously tracing changesinthevillageand thefamily, theintroduction of educationand the establishment of Serbia's first industries, Sundhaussen builds on his previous chefd'oeuvre - Historische Statistik Serbiens, 1834-^14 (Munich,1989)- inwhichhe offered a detailedempirical analysis ofSerbia's failedmodernization attempts duringthenineteenth century comparedwith otherEuropeancountries. Sundhaussen insists on europeanizing as theavailable and desiredformofmodernity. Closelyrelatedto thisare thedisputes and dilemmasthatarosebetweenthosewho advocatedhistorical rights and thosewho favoured self-determination duringexpansionintoor unification withneighbouring nations, issuesthathave dominatedSerbianpoliticallife eversincethe modernSerbianstatewas consolidated. Like itsItalianand Germanrolemodels, territorial expansion was seenbylatecomers tomodernizationas a means of catchingup. In the Serbiancontextthistranslated intoexclusiveSerbiannationalism and competitive Yugoslav,pan-slavist or Balkanist projects. These generated conflicts withotherSouthSlav orBalkan nationalist projectswhichthe creationof the commonYugoslavstatewas notable to overcome.In additionto permanent rural/urban conflict, Serbs werefurther dividedbetweenthoseoriginating in Serbia properand those who came fromlandsacrosstheDanube and Sava rivers. Oftenneglected, as Sundhaussenskilfully demonstrates, these regional and demographic challenges wereas important as liberal, socialist orpopulist (radical)andlater, Communist allegiances, in creating ideologicaland politicaldivisions. Other issuesneglected in previous synthetic histories ofSerbia,suchas theposition and roleofwomen,thestateofeducation,academia and popularreligion, loomlargein Sundhaussen's book. There are a fewpointswherethisreviewer disagrees withSundhaussen's evaluationofcertainevents, personalities and phenomena.One exampleis his rathersimplistic and dated depictionof Zbor as a Serbianpendantto the Ustasa movement. Sundhaussenalso overlooks, more significantly, the complexpoliticalframework ofinternar Yugoslaviawhen,as Dejan Djokic recently showedinhisElusive Compromise (London,2007),centralism, unitarism and integral Yugoslavism were not necessarily synonyms nor prerequisites ofone partylessone (Serbian)nation.These reservations aside,bothauthor and publisher deservepraisefora volumethatis luxuriously laid out over more than 500 pages with sixty-seven meticulously selectedillustrations, severaltablesand otherusefulscholarly apparatus - a rarethingin recent Westernpublishing.These are, however,merelyadditionalbenefitsto Sundhaussen's persuasive and enjoyable,highly readablenarrative. Withits theoretical, comparative and contextual underpinnings the book willbe of particular valueto Serbianhistorians whohavespentyearsinliteral isolation frominternational academia (a Serbian editionhas also been published). English-speaking scholarsand interested readerswould benefit enormously froma translation of thissuccessful synthesis whichdemonstrates thatit is possibleto writea modern-style history ofa nonWestern Europeancountry witha lessdevelopedhistoriographical tradition. UCL SSEES Bojan Aleksov ...