The Artful Albanian

by Enver Hoxha, Jon Halliday (Editor)

Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. Paperback review copy; looks as new. xv, 394 p. : 1 map ; 20 cm.. . Includes index. p. [379]-382.. .

Genres: History, Politics, Memoir

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Enver Halil Hoxha was an Albanian Communist revolutionary, statesman and political theorist who was the leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985.

He was the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 until his death, a member of its Politburo, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the Albanian People's Army. He was, also, the twenty-second prime minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times was both foreign minister and defence minister of the country.

Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër in 1908. He was a grammar school teacher in 1936. After the Italian invasion of Albania, he joined the Party of Labour of Albania at its creation in 1941 in the Soviet Union. He was elected First Secretary in March 1943 at the age of 34. Less than two years after the liberation of the country, the monarchy of King Zog I was formally abolished, and Hoxha became the country's de facto head of state.

Adopting Stalinism, Hoxha converted Albania into a one-party communist state. As a Stalinist, he implemented state atheism and ordered the anti-religious persecution of Muslims and Christians. Implementing his radical program, Hoxha used totalitarian methods of governance. His government outlawed traveling abroad and private proprietorship. The government imprisoned, executed, or exiled thousands of landowners, rural clan leaders, peasants who resisted collectivization, and allegedly disloyal party officials. Hoxha was succeeded by Ramiz Alia, who was in charge during the fall of communism in Albania.

Hoxha's government was characterised by his proclaimed firm adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism from the mid/late-1960s onwards. After his break with Maoism in the 1976–1978 period, numerous Maoist parties around the world declared themselves Hoxhaist. The International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organisations (Unity & Struggle) is the best-known association of these parties.

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Albania's Long TIme Boss Tells All" (or almost all)

Enver Hoxha was never a hero of mine. For most of my life I've been fascinated by Albania, its culture, history, music, and literature, but thanks to him I could only visit the country of my fascination in 1996. I found it in sorry shape, again thanks to this son of a landowning family who returned from studying in France and Belgium to be a teacher and subsequently to lead the Communist Partisans against the fascist invaders during World War II. Hoxha prepared for his takeover by fighting with the non-Communist Albanian resistance just as often as with the Italians and Germans. Remaining in power from 1944 to his death in 1985, this Balkan despot eventually quarreled with every power that aided him---Yugoslavia, the USSR, and China---and became ever more paranoid, never leaving Albania for the last 25 years of his life. It is not too much to say that Hoxha and his policies utterly ruined Albania, even if he kept it from disappearing off the map. He murdered, imprisoned, terrified, and kept ignorant an entire people. Seven years after his death, the whole country lay destitute, destroyed, desperate. Albania has had to begin from scratch. What has such a man got to say for himself ?
THE ARTFUL ALBANIAN is an edited version of the many volumes-long memoirs of Enver Hoxha. Of course, it is possible that what Jon Halliday has not put into the present volume is as revealing as what he has. I rather doubt it though. Whatever the case, he has certainly gathered a number of interesting sections, connected by intelligent commentary. I found the book fascinating for what it revealed about this dictator of a `people's democracy" which, in the end, did not rise far above the Balkan dictatorships of the past. Hoxha emerges as more intelligent and discerning than many world leaders, certainly more than most leaders produced by the Communist "bloc" after World War II. He is at his best in criticizing the vainglorious amassing of the trappings of power of other leaders, in divulging the hypocrisies of the other worker states. No word about his own foibles of course. There are a large number of interesting conversations between Eastern bloc leaders complete with open threats and farting dogs, and the intricacies of his relationship with China. Hoxha was a man who could casually speak of "liquidation" of a man or a class without the slightest qualm. In the end he killed his closest ally, Mehmet Shehu, and denounced him as a Western agent. Hoxha's last words in the book are "..the walls of our fortress are of unshakeable granite rock." The pitiful, crumbling concrete pillboxes that dot Albania, over half a million of them, give a more accurate picture of Hoxha's achievement.
If you are interested in knowing something about Hoxha, about his view of what he did and whom he met, and if you don't mind a fair bit of the old "party line" along the way, (from the horse's mouth) then by all means read this book. For anyone who wants to know what crushed Albania, why it had to start from almost scratch in 1991, this book is a good place to begin.

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frequently delusional, mind-bogglingly dogmatic and thuggish, but there's no memoir of an Eastern Bloc leader quite like Hoxha's (here condensed, hilariously, by the later co-author of 'Mao - the Unknown Story'). Indiscreet would be to put it mildly.

[Joseph Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting curiosity that this edition of Hoxha's memoirs shares an author with that most viciously reactionary tome, Mao: The Unknown Story. Published shortly after Hoxha's death in 1986, The Artful Albanian is a collection of various bits and pieces from Hoxha's extensive memoirs, and offers us a very rare insight into a secretive regime that to this day remains largely veiled.

It would be wrong to call it sympathetic - Halliday is quite willing to criticise Hoxha, and the book is littered with Halliday's notes of where Hoxha is mistaken, or not quite charitable with the truth - but The Artful Albanian is admirably even-handed, seeking neither to deify nor decry, a welcome surprise in truth. Focusing on Albania's relations with the world it would slowly reject, the book looks at Hoxha's accounts of several key events - the resistance in WW2, the break with Yugoslavia, the holy war against Krushchev's revisionists, the make-and-break with China. It is written as a double act; Halliday sets the scene, the late Hoxha tells the story.

Much can be said about Hoxha's politics, but it is difficult to deny that he is a damned good writer. Intelligent, observant and educated, the Albanian first secretary provides an intriguing insight into international politics, a rare case of a man whose suspicious Stalinism actually appears to add to his work. Much of what he says must be taken with a pinch of salt - The Artful Albanian is a compliation of existing work (often not published in English, but published all the same) rather than some confession stripped from the deathbed - but it is always interesting, and usually insightful.

The Arful Albanian is, at its core, memoir done right. If you loved Alan Clark, you'll probably enjoy it; if you hated Alan Clark, you'll like it even more. Highly recommended.

[Kriegslok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just read Jason Tomes excellent "King Zog of Albania" I thought the time was ripe to read something on his successor Enver Hoxha. Published in 1986 this book has actually been sitting on my bookshelf for about 30 years and was never a priority. How wrong I was to think Envers memoirs, presented and edited here by Jon Halliday, would be dry and dull. My knowledge of Hoxhas Albania went little further than it being the last bastion of Stalinism and not that interesting at that (although the subject and its political history do interest me a lot). Being pre Soviet collapse era this book no doubt lacks a lot of more recently available material. It is based of the actual published writings of Hoxha for the most part with the latter part of the book dealing with the Chinese period based on his diary accounts. Surprisingly, perhaps, what comes across is a well informed, highly critical, individual who detests the excesses, double and under hand dealing, corruption and ideological bankruptcy of both his then current and erstwhile bloc colleagues (while himself remaining an "out and out Stalinist"). While the first part of the book does cover the war of liberation and the revolution it does not explain how Hoxha successfully mobilised a country that Zog failed miserably to effectively bring under his control (although both faced the same historic Albanian leadership dilemmas). Falling out with the Yugoslavs, Soviets and Chinese all of whom failed to measure up to Hoxhas exacting Marxist Leninist line he details their betrayals and then roots out his fellow countrymen who were too close or compromised by ties with former allies describing in detail their traitorous behaviour and dispatching them without remorse.Of Stalin he says "Stalin was no tyrant, no despot. He was a man of principle, he was just, modest and very kindly and considerate towards people, the cadres, and his colleagues. No mistakes of principle can be found in the works of this outstanding Marxist - Leninist". It is against this yardstick all others are measured. Khrushchev and Tito become his arch enemies and he accuses them of the crimes Khrushchev denounced Stalin for in his secret speech. If all this is true, you were there, why didn't you stop him? Hoxha asks dryly. When the Soviets suggest their Albanian comrades do some soul searching and rehabilitation Hoxha replies "There is nothing for our Party to reexamine in its line. We have never permitted serious mistakes of principle in our line". Hoxha rails against the corrupt regime of the new Romanian bourgeois under Ceausescu, "If the world waits for the Ceausescu's to bring down imperialism, imperialism will live for tens of thousands of years". His comments on the behaviour of Soviet allies are highly critical and ring true. On the DPRK, even in 1956, Hoxha exclaims you had to look hard to find a portrait of Marx or Lenin "even in a dusty corner somewhere". Cuba fairs better and while saying he and Castro diverge and do not see eye to eye he admires his pronounced sense of resistance and independent streak. It is China though that really baffles him, "Are we dealing with Marxists of religious fanatics?" he asks. Many diary entries are dedicated to trying to work out what is behind the Chinese wall of silence, smoke and mirrors. He describes various cunning attempts to find out what is really happening or thought and is baffled by the excesses and slogan bound politics of his supposed allies. The book is also interesting on the historical issues surrounding the problems which blew Yugoslavia apart, for example Kosovo which is clearly a bone of contention from the start. While no doubt limited by its publication date this book remains a great read with moments of real Stalinist humour. You can almost picture Enver with steam coming out of his ears as he sits at the head of a rigidly correct Marxist-Lennist regime that is rapidly running out of acceptably orthodox friends. A good follow up from Zog.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through the volumes of material he left behind - and presented here edited and with explanatory text - Hoxha paints a picture of himself as an intransigent true believer in his own narrow interpretation of Marxism-Leninism. For Hoxha there is basically Stalin, and everyone else who isn't Stalin.

An interesting and eye opening book for those curious about the inner workings and machinations of the communist bloc - however, be warned: a bit of familiarity is assumed by the editor. If you are not well versed with the Balkans of the Communist era, be prepared to do a lot of research on the various characters involved here. I spent a bit of time on Wikipedia reading about Koçi Xoxe, Mehmet Shehu, and others to get additional background that is not presented. Despite this shortcoming, Halliday does a good job illustrating where Hoxa's accounts of events match or depart from the historical record.

A fascinating account, but I feel that its presentation leaves holes in the story.