A word of praise for the Scarecrow Press’ Historical Dictionaries series is long overdue. Comprising separate Latin American, African, Asian/Oceanian, and European dictionaries, they are veritable mines of information not readily accessible elsewhere and, manifestly, reference works of erudition and sheer hard grinding work. Not the least difficulty, it may be imagined, is finding a suitable expert willing to devote considerable time to producing a volume that will match Scarecrow’s high standards. Take this present work as an example. Dr Raymond Detrez is currently Professor of Eastern European History in the University of Ghent and also teaches at the Catholic University of Louvain.
In this large‐scale work on a country which is, in his own words, next to Albania, without a doubt Europe’s least known, he first incorporates a chronology of Bulgarian history from Antiquity (before 681 AD), through the First Bulgarian Empire (861‐1018), Byzantine Rule (1018‐1185), the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185‐1393), Ottoman Rule (1393‐1878), the National Awakening (1762‐1878), the Kingdom of Bulgaria (1878‐1944), Communist Rule (1944‐1989), to the Post‐Communist period (1989‐). Next comes a chronological list of the Rulers of Bulgaria, the Khans, Kings, Tsars, Emperors, Sultans, and Presidents who have in turn ruled, mostly despotically, over the Bulgars. He also lists the names of the prime ministers and the dates of their administrations 1879‐1996.
After these lists, of immense use to researchers in ancient, medieval and modern Balkan history, there is an Introduction providing an overview of Bulgaria’s geography (climate, flora and fauna, resources, and population) and history.
The Dictionary proper contains extremely informative entries on political parties, movements, and events; foreign relations and diplomatic treaties; national institutions; prominent figures in Bulgaria’s constitution, political and public life, archaeology and history; religious faiths and sects; minorities; wars and battles; trade and the economy; the arts, radio and television; sport; and a host of others not easily categorised.
At this point we might stop to ponder that already we have a decent sized book of some 60 preliminary pages and 300 pages of text. But there is more, a short bibliographic essay and an extensive bibliography arranged in eight subject divisions, subdivided into 40 distinct sections. Most citations refer to English language publications, although some French and German publications make an appearance, and a few are translated from Eastern European languages. Throw in, for good measure, a transliteration scheme from the Cyrillic script, a note on Bulgarian names, a list of abbreviations and acronyms, and a list of the Bulgarian names of political parties and organisations, and we have a reference work that will be of immeasurable value for any library which seriously pretends to encompass Balkan studies.
