Modern Albania offers a vivid history of the Albanian Communist regime’s fall and the trials and tribulations that led the country to become the state it is today. The book provides an in-depth look at the Communists’ last Politburo meetings and the first student revolts, the fall of the Stalinist regime, the outflows of refugees, the crash of the massive pyramid-loan schemes, the war in neighboring Kosovo, and Albania’s relationship with the United States. Fred Abrahams weaves together personal experience from more than twenty years of work in Albania, interviews with key Albanians and foreigners who played a role in the country’s politics since 1990–including former Politburo members, opposition leaders, intelligence agents, diplomats, and founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army–and a close examination of hundreds of previously secret government records from Albania and the United States.
Honestly not sure how I feel about this book. It was a great, instructive and well-written story… but it’s a story in which the US do no harm, written by an American, and I tend to be very very suspicious of cold war / immediately post cold war stories that don’t mention a US-backed anti-communist coup at some point. Maybe I’m worried for nothing, but I’m wary just on principle.
Excellent read with great insights, though. I just feel like I’m going to want to complement it with more stuff to make sure it’s not just one account.