Book reviews and recommendations

[Prolet]

Its called Sloboda za Irak - Patot za Vavilon

The Macedonians assisted the American Troops in Iraq it even came to a stage where our soldiers where training them. Metodija developed a training method which was accepted by the Pentagon in USA, our special forces units received the highest honors and medals for supporting the US Soldiers in Iraq.

I'll even write the back page of the book, its all in Macedonian by the way.

Од Јуни до Декември 2003-та, триесетмина припадници на Армијата на Македонија беа дел од коалициските сили кои требаше да го наметнат мирот во повоен Ирак.
Тоа беа - Македонските Волци!
Кои се, како ја извршија мисијата, како го издржаа пеколното време и како ги дочуваа животите во земјата во која смртта деноноќно бдееше од сите страни, каде што крвта ги топеше пустинскиот песок секој час?
И како успеаја Македонските воини да покажат и да докажат дека се најподготвени, највешти и најхрабри во големиот меѓународен контингент војници, гордо и достоинствено да го вејат Македонското знаме, до толку што да ги придобијат симпатиите од сите и да бидат одликувани од Американците?

Напорите и во утробата на пеколот.

Во Вавалон - каде што стоел Александар Македонски.

[TrueMacedonian]

http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1965

Click the link Bij

[George S.]

Regarding donski does anyone know what's happened to him THe last time i spoke to him,
he was translating some stuff he got from a german professor.It wasfrom 16 anicient Macedonian writers regarding Ancient Macedonia.THis was stuff written by macedonians for macedonia instead of the usual greek stuff.He was saying that he is making good inroads into the translations.The find were supposed to aid macedonia in negating all claims to macedonia by greece.So does anyone know anything???

To TM You know how you got the 3000 year history book,How come you don't have the 4000 of greek history book??It must be a must not have one.You know i'm just kidding.

[George S.]

Regarding the Macedonian soldiers to Iraq their country owes them a great gratitude for what they are doing.It's a fine example of what Macedonians are like.It's sheer magnificence at it's best.Macedonian soldiers are the best there is & they have proved themselves in action.We should all be proud of them & they should all come back & safe & sound to their loved ones.
Do people know that Macedonia is not even in Nato is still contributing soldiers to AFghanistan,where as countries like Greece are in Nato & not sending any troops(for fear of losing soldiers?)

[Bij]

http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum...ead.php?t=1965

Click the link Bij

aa.. vooops!

[Prolet]

Regarding the Macedonian soldiers to Iraq their country owes them a great gratitude for what they are doing.It's a fine example of what Macedonians are like.It's sheer magnificence at it's best.Macedonian soldiers are the best there is & they have proved themselves in action.We should all be proud of them & they should all come back & safe & sound to their loved ones.
Do people know that Macedonia is not even in Nato is still contributing soldiers to AFghanistan,where as countries like Greece are in Nato & not sending any troops(for fear of losing soldiers?)

Its great experience for our soldiers served in Iraq and Afghanistan, our troops will also be serving with the Vermont national guard.

[TrueMacedonian]

great thread. i love reading these types of books and have been looking to expand my collection.

did you buy these books or borrow them? where did you buy them from?

Barnes and noble is a great store here in the states. There are really huge ones in NJ and in NY so I have the luxury of selections most people don't. And if there is something specific that I want I order online. Ebay is a great thing to check out.

[Bij]

aw TM, we don't have B&N here in oz. i get most of my books from amazon because even with shipping and foreign currency conversion, they still end up cheaper than books from oz!

what are some of your favourite history books re Macedonia/the balkans? do you have any recommendations?

i do ebay from time to time, but they rarely have books that interest me. a few of my books were gifts and some i pick up at library/garage sales

[Jankovska]

I am reading Alexander from Valerio Masimmo Manfredi. It's about the life of Alexander spread in three books. I like it

[TrueMacedonian]

aw TM, we don't have B&N here in oz. i get most of my books from amazon because even with shipping and foreign currency conversion, they still end up cheaper than books from oz!

what are some of your favourite history books re Macedonia/the balkans? do you have any recommendations?

i do ebay from time to time, but they rarely have books that interest me. a few of my books were gifts and some i pick up at library/garage sales

I like Gandeto's book alot. He uses alot of solid sources. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know the differences between the Ancient Macedonians and the Ancient Hellenes. I also have 'This Land We Do Not Give' by Risto Stefov and Michael Seraphinoff which is a good short history of Macedona.

[TrueMacedonian]

This is a review of a book called "The Past In Question" by Keith Brown.

The title of the book may sound insidious and damning to any Macedonian who reads it. And it may hurt the feelings of any hardcore nationalist who has a one set mind trek concerning Macedonian history and cannot comprehend certain realities of Macedonia's past. However Keith Brown put in an intensive anthropological research campaign on researching unreviewed archival material concerning the Krushevo Republic. The material he reviews are the written testimonies by the people who were in Krushevo in 1903. Brown, unlike many so-called "historians" and "semi-anthropologists", learned the Macedonian language in order to research the pensioners written testimonies of Krushevo. Brown also investigates 19th and early 20th century travellers, scholars, and authors who were either in Krushevo in 1903 or who only wrote about Krushevo around that time. Brown pulls no punches on certain books written in the 1990's(of which I will be posting his opinions on these books and their authors soon). Brown's focus is on Krushevo and its inhabitants, and certain figures like Pitu Guli and Nikola Karev.
Brown's stance on Macedonia and its identity is very clear in the beginning of the book and even more clear at the end of the book where he writes "What it meant to be Macedonian (or Greek or Bulgarian) in 1903 was different from what it meant from 1944 and in 1991."
Keith Brown lived in Macedonia for almost 2 years to do his research on the Krushevo Republic. He disseminates many myths (even Macedonian myths) during this time. Especially what it meant to be a "greek" or a "Bulgarian". I applaud Keith Brown for his efforts and research for presenting a side rarely heard from the time of the Krushevo Republic. A history he finds just as important as the main characters of the story. The history of the regular folks in Krushevo in 1903.
I noticed alot of imposter hellenes using his book as a basis to try and discredit our identity. However I recommend they read, as well as any Macedonian, the entire book before coming to any false conclusions as to what he says.
By the way the picture on the cover of his book is just awesome.

[TrueMacedonian]

It's nice to revive this topic again. Well I read Procopius' The Secret History (Anecdota) a few days ago in one sitting. Calling it character assasination would be an understatement. It seems that Procopius may have been bitter at Emperor Justinian for not giving him a promotion of sorts because The Secret History really rips Justinian and his wife Theodora some new a-holes.

To start Procopius describes Belisarius (One of the Greatest Roman Generals in Roman History) as a fool in love with a cheating whore of a wife, Antonina, who cheats on him with their adopted son. Interestingly one of the family Slaves who is named Macedonia tells Belisarius of Antonina's cheating ways. But Belisarius is described as a buffon in love who is blinded by the fact that his wife has cheated on him more times than Tiger Woods wife. Antonina convinces Belisarius that the slave Macedonia is lying and so Belisarius believes her and hands over Macedonia's fate to her (apparently she cut off her tongue and chopped her to pieces and threw her in the sea). Finally Antonina's own son from a different father tells Belisarius of Antonina's mischief and how she plans to get rid of him (the son) and how she will continue cheating on Belisarius while he's on campaigns. The story is on-going and continues until the adopted son dies in Justinian's palace from natural causes.

The real 'juicy stuff' is when Procopius starts digging his heels into the names of Justinian and Theodora. He describes Justinian as a good looking man of average height who is not really a man, but a demon. He goes on to describe the fact that Justinian's uncle the Emperor Justin was an Illyrian peasant who could not read, write, or hold any real intellectual conversation if his life depended on it. According to Procopius Justinian was the real power behind Justin's throne. Justin couldn't even sign his own name, according to Procopius, and that those closest to him carved a wodden stamper of his name so he could dip it in ink and stamp his name onto documents and decrees. Justin married a barbarian(?) named Lupecina who changed her name to Euphemia.
Justinian is described as a common thug, gangster, thief, and a "murderer of trillions" according to Procopius. The 'trillion' number obviously an exageration.
Theodora is described as sleeping with men since she was a child and sleeping with 10 men at once at one time. Later on in life she meets a dancer named Macedonia (no relation to the one who was involved with Belisarius' ordeal) and Macedonia gives her a pep talk to cheer her up. This Macedonia was an agent of Justinian's. Justinian apparently had many agents spread out all over the kingdom in order for him to gather intelligence. Nothing different than todays CIA, MI5-MI6, SVR, or Mossad.
The book is one of the easiest reads out there. And it demonstrates what an angry historian can do to history. So this book should not be taken at face value concerning the main characters of the Justinian era. However some of it, as the translator describes, may be true or half-truths so the entire book cannot be totally discarded either.

Fun fact;

There is absolutely no mention of any 'Slavs' penetrating into Macedonia in this book. However twice Procopius mentions Greece being entirely covered with these 'Slavs'.

Recommend it for anyone interested in the Justinian Era.

[Risto the Great]

An excellent review TM.

[Onur]

The Jews of Solun have suffered heavily.
No single ethnicity can lay a greater claim on Solun in the 19th century than these Jews.

A brief history about Salonika;
When Catholic Spaniards defeated Arabian "Al-Andalus" reign at Spain, they exterminated all Muslim population there and after that Queen of Spain, Isabella forced all Jews of Spain either become Christian or leave Spain without taking any money or property.

They refused to be Christian and asked Turkish Sultan to save their lives and accept them to the Ottoman Empire. About ~250.000 Jews without a money or any propriety came to Ottoman Empire at 1492 and Turkey settled them to Salonika, Izmir and Istanbul.

Then they named themselves as "Sephardi Jews" since that day and created a language called "Ladino" which is a mix of Spanish, Hebrew and Turkish. After their settlement, Salonika became a center of commerce and city`s population was like %50 Jews %35 Turks, %5 Greeks, %10 Macedonian and Albanians. Ladino, Turkish and Macedonian was the main spoken languages in the city. That was the case `till the late 19th century.

After Greek state founded, Greeks started to force the Turks as well as Jews to migrate out from Salonika since they weren't Greeks or Christians. Most of them(Around 200.000 Jew) migrated to Izmir and Istanbul after 1870s and few remaining Jews of Salonika massacred by Nazis at WW-2.

After the foundation of Israel, most of the Jews of Turkey migrated to there but there are still ~30.000 Sephardi Jews living in Turkey atm and "Ladino" language is still used by few people. They also have newspapers here in Izmir with Ladino and Turkish language.




These Sephardi Jews of Turkey has amazingly rich culture which consists elements from Persian, Turkish, Latino and Jewish. Most of them speaks at least 3-4 language(Turkish, Hebrew, Spanish, Ladino) and they got very talented musicians. Our food/cuisine is also same with them.







Some of their houses in Izmir which represent a mix of Spanish and Ottoman Turkish architecture;








Unfortunately Greek invaders burned and destroyed most of these houses at 1919. These are few of the remaining Sephardi Jew villas build at 18-19th century.


Is there a Sephardi Jewish houses like these in Salonika atm or Greeks destroyed them all???? Anyone knows??

[Risto the Great]

Wow, nice houses!

created a language called "Ladino" which is a mix of Spanish, Hebrew and Turkish.

I have read it included some Macedonian influence as well as Greek.