Gypsies: An Illustrated History

by Jean-Pierre Liégeois

The Gypsies have always been subject to myths about their origins, customs and social organization, in large part because of widespread ignorance. In this lively and informative book, Jean-Pierre Liégeois redresses this shortcoming. Starting with an examination of many legends about Gypsies throughout history, he goes on to trace their true origins and presents a sympathetic – though not uncritical – portrayal of the Gypsy people. Finally, he discusses recent attempts by Gypsies to organise internationally.

Fully illustrated throughout, this book is ideal for anyone who wishes to learn more about this unique people.

Jean-Pierre Liégeois is one of Europe's leading authorities on the Gypsies and the author of several books and many articles.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A photographical (black & white photos) history of the Gypsy people. I learned about their history, where the word "gypsy" comes from, their cultural values and norms, and other interesting tidbits. I can finally say learned about the wandering Gypsy and what sets them apart from other contemporary cultural enclaves.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are definitely some parts of this book that I did not agree with, and that underscore the wide degree of trouble that comes from trying to speculate on the origins of the Gypsies being from India when, as has been correctly noted, the Romany people clearly have a lot of other historical and cultural influences as well, and do not appear like their supposed neighbors in India had been, even if their language does appear to be an Indo-Aryan one of considerable antiquity.  Aside from the speculations about Romany origins, though, this book does a good job at pointing out the vulnerabilities that have existed with regards to their relationship with outsiders, where a high degree of hostility and a desire to take advantage of the gadje on the part of the Romany is matched by frequent hostility from people as well as governments in the areas where the Romany have lived, to the point where individual freedoms have sometimes been granted but where group identity and recognition of the identity of the Romany as a whole has sometimes been problematic.  One cannot help but compare the struggles for legitimacy and belonging of the Romany with that of the Jews, although the author appears reluctant to do so.

The less than 200 pages of this book are divided into several chapters.  After opening with a series of black and white photographs of various Sinti and Roma peoples and their material culture, the author begins with an introduction and then spends a fair bit of time speculating on origins using language as the basis (is there a reluctance on the part of Roma to DNA analysis?).  After that the author spends some time looking at Gypsy society, including the nature of family authority and group institutions that help to preserve peace and well-being within society as well as providing an acceptable face towards outsiders.  An entire chapter is spent exploring the relationships between Gypsies and non-gypsies, where there is a high degree of mutual stigmatization between the various groups.  After that the author looks at the changing times that have taken place given the more strict border rules and the growing spread of settled society that has left a good deal less freedom to roam on the part of the Roma in many places, while the last chapter of the book discusses some of the ways that the Gypsies have responded to contemporary threats through seeking to politically organize and draw attention to their plight in a way that would have been unthinkable in the past.

I do not consider myself to be particularly knowledgeable about the Roma and their lives, nor do I find the lifestyle of an illiterate nomad to be particularly appealing (and books are by no means an easy sort of culture to bring in one's wanderings, as I know all too well [1]).  That said, I do find the struggle on the part of the various peoples of the Roma to have a space space to live as they wish without government interference or hostility from the settled peoples around them to be a poignant one.  As someone who tends to struggle with fitting in who has lived a life of considerable wandering, I have a high degree of empathy at least for the struggles faced by the Roma even if I am definitely an outsider to their ways.  Yet societies at present, even ones as mobile as our own, still leave a great deal of difficulty for those who wish to be itinerant and whose technical competence and education are not very high even now.  There is a lot of room for very poisonous relations between the Roma and those societies whom they live in but remain very distinct from.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

[Janita · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me, a classic case of a fascinating subject written about badly. Somehow it had a lack of heart. Lack of warmth. Felt dead in my hand, which was difficult because Roma culture is so totally intriguing.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For its rather limited length, this book is a fairly complete introduction to Gypsy/Roma society and culture throughout the world. The author is the director of the research Center for Gypsy Studies at the University of Paris V. So instead of romanticizing the Gypsy issue as many other popular books do, this one is an objective, informative, comprehensive overview of the main Gypsy topics. And I especially appreciate the fact he touched upon the problem of the disappearance of Gypsy culture due to assimilation and globalization.

The only drawbacks are the somewhat French-centric focus and its age. The timeline stops in the 80s, so important issues related to modern-day Gypsy society are not taken into account. The edition I read was published in 2005, so it has had the chance to be updated. Yet the only recent social and political developments (included as a brief epilogue at the end instead of a total reworking of the whole text) are the new attempts at supra-national Gypsy organizations but not important changes in society and attitudes. Still, I recommend it as a great first book on the topic.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not its main purpose, the book did help me bust a few myths about gypsy culture, and surprised me with details of their history and dealings with the gadže (non-Gypsies). It also made it painfully evident how naive my ideas of solving the Gypsy-gadže cohabitation problems were. For all of the above, it's a valuable book, well-worth reading by the uninitiated like me. Nevertheless, it's clearly not a one-stop shop, as the author emphasizes. It leaves many questions unanswered, and does not (cannot, in such limited space) deal with details. Hence, I'd say it's a good introduction to the subject as opposed to an exhaustive treatment of it.

[Coleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing I didn't already know.

There isn't much "history" per se. The author gives some general background information before spending his largest chapter about how Gypsies have been victimized and fallen prey to xenophobia over the centuries. This seems common knowledge and I would have preferred this being the smallest portion of the book.

The background chapters don't go into much depth and give only a few examples. There are not many counter-arguments.

You may want to skip this. What you already know about the Gypsies (the xenophobia part), is all you will be able to take away from this. It's short, though, and wasn't an entire time waste.

[Talena Winters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sympathetic overview of the history of the Roma. Recommended.

[Laila514 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and delightfull,filled with all kinds of history and knowledge of gypsy society.