Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro
Comparatively little is well known about Europe's newest and one of its smallest independent states: the tiny but mountainous Montenegro. In a book written for specialists and general readers alike, Elizabeth Roberts, in her book Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro, traces its history from pre-Slavic times, including its part in the 1389 battle of Kosovo and its prominent role in resisting the Ottomans.
She recounts Montenegro's development under its Prince-Bishops toward the independence achieved at the Congress of Berlin and lost after the Versailles Conference when the Podgorica Assembly voted to join the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia. When Slobodan Milosevic spoke of Montenegro and Serbia as "two eyes in the same head," he encapsulated a view that has deep roots in both nations. But not all Montenegrins agreed, and many chafed at being forced to play the role of Serbia's junior partner. Indeed, Montenegro's complex and shifting cultural and political identity is the main theme of Roberts's witty and dispassionate book, which culminates in Montenegro's defining referendum and subsequent international recognition in the summer of 2006...