‘Dejan Djokić takes the reader on a fascinating journey into Serbia´s turbulent past from prehistory to the present day, tracing key political, social, and institutional developments. Written with the benefit of hindsight after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the book offers a well-balanced analysis of historical continuities and discontinuities. This thought-provoking synthesis is highly recommended to all interested in the Balkan region.’
Marie-Janine Calic - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
‘History writing of the highest standard: richly informed, superbly lucid, clear-eyed in judgments yet not judgmental: Djokic has the rare gift of connecting distant history to urgent questions of the present, while never losing sight of the humans who made and lived this history. If he can be devastatingly critical, Djokic also envisions and celebrates a better Serbia, one true to national traditions and sentiments; he not only tells a full and absorbing story of the Serb past, but also explains what the past, often cruel but sometimes edifying, has meant to Serbs, and the peoples with whom they share this diverse region.’
John Connelly - University of California, Berkeley
‘This book establishes Djokić as the leading contemporary historian of Yugoslavia and especially Serbia, [it] demonstrates his enormous knowledge, a talent for identifying key [developments] … and an exquisite writing style … This is a seminal work … the best history of [Serbia] and its path to statehood written so far, a book that was needed. Djokić's modern and original approach, which emphasizes plurality of [Serbia's] society and contributions [to the making of Serbia] by members of minorities, marginalized groups and individuals who were never in power, sets an example of how to write great national histories.’
Dejan Jović
Source: Trails: A Journal for Serbian and Croatian Themes
‘This book is a helpful introduction to Serbian history and admirably sums up the most important historical approaches to this nation’s past … Recommended.’
T. R. Weeks
Source: Choice
‘Djokic has fulfilled the enormous task of writing a national history spanning far more than a millennium with meticulous care, as far as it can be judged. For the task is, of course, not only beyond the knowledge of a single historian, even one as scrupulous and thorough as Djokic, but also of any reviewer who attempts to evaluate this remarkable work.’
Michael Martens
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
‘… an excellent book that promises to be the standard work on its subject in English for the foreseeable future.’
Nick Miller
Source: Canadian Slavonic Papers
‘Crisply and clearly written … [an] ambitiously definitive history.’
John R. Lampe
Source: Tokovi istorije (Belgrade)