Reviews

'Hitchins's history, based on years of familiarity with primary and secondary sources of the period, will long stand as a work of reference. It is meticulously researched and has invaluable chapters on the social and economic, as well as the political, history of the Romanians.'
Times Literary Supplement
`This important volume in The Oxford History of Modern Europe must be read by specialists and students focusing on Romania of Eastern Europe, but it will also interest the general reader. No previous work has covered this topic with such competence, clarity, and intellectual breadth. The crucial point about this volume is that anyone working in the history of modern Romania from now on will have to begin with Hitchin's views.'
The Historian
`the most significant contribution to the history of modern Romania to have appeared in the English language since the war. No comparable study exists in Romanian, and one hopes that this work will be translated into that language'
English Historical Review
`There is no work that compares to Hitchins's detailed and comprehensive account of nation-building in Rumania. His book will likely become a standard reference work for historians and college students with particular interest in Rumania, the Balkans, or the process of modernization in underdeveloped regions.'
Paul Lensink, University of Dayton, History
`Keith Hitchins examines the Balkan nation in a detailed, almost surgical manner. Little, if anything, escapes the author's scrutiny in his portrayal of an emerging nation. Hitchins has produced not only the definitive work on the development of the modern, precommunist Romanian state but also an outstanding case study of nation-building in general. Rich in detail and clearly presented and argued, this is a study that painstakingly chronicles the history of
an often overlooked country ... It is impossible to imagine how a work of this scope could be more complete ... future bibliographic esaays on modern Romanian history will have to begin with this
remarkable volume.'
Richard Frucht, Northwest Missouri State University, American Historical Review, February 1996