reviews 737 societyintotwo seemingly implacablecamps,Robertspromisesto outline 'thearguments on bothsidesofthedebatein a waywhichI hope bothsides willjudge to be fair'(p. xiv),despiteherown 'preference forindependence' (p. xiv).^ The introductory ^ chapter('Montenegrin Identity in Time and Space') beginsbysummarizing thetwoopposingviewsofMontenegrin identity, one thatseesMontenegrins as Serbs,and theotherthatsees themas a separate nation.The remainder ofthechapter provides a brief overview ofMontenegro 'shistory, payingparticular attention to theway in whichMontenegrin identity wasunderstood atdifferent stagesofitspast.Indeed,theidentity issue is a recurrent themethroughout the book. The chapteralso discussesthe relationship betweenland and people. The periodization thatdividesmostoftheremaining chapters is based on thegreatfigures ofMontenegrin history: VladikaPetarI (Chapter5),Vladika PetarII (Chapter6), PrinceDanilo (Chapter7),King Nikola(Chapters7, 8 & 9),MilovanDilas (Chapter11),and Milo Dukanovic(Chapter12).As such, itis a verytraditional viewofhistory thatfocuseson 'greatmen'. Economic history is largelyignored, and the storyof thecommonpeople is similarly overlooked. Montenegro's leadersare measuredaccordingto theirefforts to secureindependence and createa Montenegrin identity; Vladika PetarI is praisedforworking towards'buildinga senseofcommonidentity' (p. 185), whereashissuccessor, VladikaPetarII, islabeleda 'GreaterSerb'(p. 215)for believing that'all Orthodoxwere[.. .] Serbs'(p. 215). The book containsat leastone factualerror;it citesa forgeddocument purportedly written by GeneralDraza MihailovicduringtheSecond World War (p. 364), althoughthismistakeis somewhatunderstandable giventhe ubiquitous natureofthisdocument in historical writings. Although thereis an undercurrent ofsympathy forthe'pro-independence argument' throughout thebook,itis notexcessively obtrusive or deleterious to itsoverallquality.Robertshas written a generally balancedand fairhistoryat a timewhenpassionsaboutMontenegro's future and whatitmeans tobe a Montenegrin wererunning high.Realm ofthe Black Mountain isa concise and wellwritten history ofMontenegro, whichis recommended foranyone whowishesto familiarize themselves withthehistory ofthisland. Department ofModern History, Politics, International Relations andSecurity MacquarieUniversity Jovo B. SuSÕEvrá Rock, Stella. PopularReligionin Russia: 'Double Belief and theMaking of an Academic Myth. RoutledgeStudiesin theHistory ofRussia and Eastern Europe.Routledge, Londonand New York,2007.xiii+ 234pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index.£80.00. Stella Rock's revisedDPhil thesisis a jargon-free combination ofcultural history, etymology oftheterm'double-belief (dvoeverie), incisive historiography 738 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO and comparative history of medievalChristianity. Buildingon theworkof SimonDixon,ChrisChulosand Eve Levin,Rock arguesthat'medievaluses of the termdvoeverie [.. .] do not provideevidenceof a medievalconcept ofdouble-belief, whereChristians preserve theirpagan practices and beliefs either unconsciously orconsciously, instubborn resistance tothenewfaith or bya processofcreativeaccommodation'. This notion,theauthorcontends, is 'a historiographical construct thatdevelopedin the nineteenth century out ofa preoccupation withthe "folk"and a beliefthatby sifting through thesediment oftraditional culture, one can findpreserved pureelements of pre-Christian paganism'(p. 118).In medievaldiscourse,the word meant, depending on context, anything from 'doubt'to'hesitation' or'dissention' and oftensimply describedheterodoxpractices, whether pre-Christian ('pagan') in originor not.Rus' was no moreresistant to conversion thanany other Europeancultureand syncretism was thenormratherthantheexception. Rock notesthe anachronism inherent in measuringmedievalChristianity (or,rather, Christianities) withtheyardstick ofsomekindof'pure' or 'true' form. Whyshouldonlytheintellectualized religion triumphant inmuchofthe postVaticanII world(where evenCatholics behavelikeProtestants) be counted as therealthing? Whyispraying toa wholepantheonofsaintsand spirits existing undertheautocracy oftheLord not'Christian'? This elegantly structured bookstarts bydefining itsterms in theintroduction ,beforeexploring theprimary sourcesmostcommonly citedas evidence fordvoeverie (chapterone) and analysing the termin othersources(chapter two).These first twochapters debunktheidea thatmedievalclericsagitated againstthepersistence ofpagan beliefs within the'folk'- a notionwhichis thenshownto have emergedout ofromantic and nationalistic attempts to findthe truepeople duringthe nineteenth century (chapterthree).In the fourth and finalchapter,the undisputable factof syncretism is thenput intoa comparative context oftheconversion to Christianity in Europemore generally. Not a medievalist, thisrevieweris in no positionto judge Rock's use ofprimary sourcesor hercritiqueoftheirinterpretations by otherscholars. This is forspecialists to decide. The book's implications, however,go far beyondthemedievalperiodand touchon questionscentralto thestudyof Christianity inmodern Russiaas well.Eventhosesceptical towards thegrowth industry ofacademicmyth-busting willhavetocontend withthisbookifthey wantto continuearguingthatthereis a particularly Russianphenomenon of'doublebeliefwheresomehowpagan ideas and rituals werepreserved as a more or less intactsystem alongsideand in resistance to the 'veneerof Christianity'. Those,bycontrast, who strive to embedRussianhistory intoa pan-European(or maybeevenglobal)context, willfindRock's argument a welcomecontribution. The syncretism inherent in Russian Orthodoxy, in thisview,is notso different from itscounterparts elsewhere, in particular in Catholiccountries. Ratherthanincomplete Christianization, then,we find simplya Russianpath withinthe globalphenomenonof indigenization of Christianity, its rootingin a peculiarlocal context.The Russians,in this reviews 739 narrative, whiledistinct, are notso weirdafter all. This finding resonates far beyond medieval Russia with much of recentanthropological literature on religion, whichhas long givenup measuring local variationagainsta supposedly puretype. As can bejudgedfrom theprice,thepublisher has considered thistobe a highly specializedmonograph. This maybe true,butRock has written in a waythatmakesthetextaccessibleto a muchbroaderaudiencepassages in Church...