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A Concise History of Romanians
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This book presents captivating stories about Romania’s past in the larger context of European and world history. Prof. Djuvara sets aside the academic tone to recount the story of Romanians, without taboos or prejudices. Common misunderstandings are brought to light and clarified, such as the story of Vlad the Impaler and the role played by Romania in World War II. Read ab
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Kindle Edition, 303 pages
Published
November 11th 2014
by Cross Meridian
(first published 1999)
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Start your review of A Concise History of Romanians
Translated into English as A Concise History of Romanians.
This was one of those books whose title made me give it a wide berth, while the rest of the world was busy singing its praises. Once I gave it a chance however, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking it. My only regret is not having listened to the audiobooks till the end, and rushing through the written version half way through.
As the title notes, this is an extremely short history of the Romanians, from about 200 BC till 1991 AD. ...more
This was one of those books whose title made me give it a wide berth, while the rest of the world was busy singing its praises. Once I gave it a chance however, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking it. My only regret is not having listened to the audiobooks till the end, and rushing through the written version half way through.
As the title notes, this is an extremely short history of the Romanians, from about 200 BC till 1991 AD. ...more
A 5 stars book. It made me feel like there's still hope. There was a lot that I didn't knew about my history, the history of my country. And Neagu Djuvara gives a great big picture with this book.
I only wish that I would've read this when I was younger.
Surely one book that I will recommend to my son. ...more
I only wish that I would've read this when I was younger.
Surely one book that I will recommend to my son. ...more
O Scurta Istorie is a nice little gem of a history book. In it, Neagu Djuvara tells his story, the story of the Romanian people. The book is aimed at non-experts, for example school and high-school pupils; admittedly, it was just fine for this reader. Djuvara confesses from the beginning that one of his goals in writing this book is to try to rectify some of the glaring "re-definitions" of historical knowledge made over the past 70 years in Romania, that is, under the Communist and post-Communis
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Aug 23, 2019
Ovidiu-Cristian Suatean
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
romanian-history,
history
The book that revived my passion for history
This is elementary Romanian history, not very different than the one taught, with a couple of different unexpected accents:
1. Turkik (Cumans) culture at the time of the first vlachian kings.
2. Freemason influence over the 1848 revolution
3. A welcome critique of how some decision were made and and why some of them were wrong.
1. Turkik (Cumans) culture at the time of the first vlachian kings.
2. Freemason influence over the 1848 revolution
3. A welcome critique of how some decision were made and and why some of them were wrong.
Aug 03, 2019
Victor Negut
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history,
eastern-europe
I agree with the beginning passages of this book, claiming that history is not objective. But there is a scale and I do wish this were more thorough, more academically rigorous in its study of the Romanian peoples. In other words I wish the book was much longer. Regardless it is fascinating and a rare source information on this part of the world, and unfortunately there are probably no such sources in the English language yet.
Easy to read. kind of an summary of the whole Romanian history in one book.
I'd love to read the unabridged version as well. Amazing work.
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A refreshing view of the Romanian history - without the usual jingoistic "academic" content.
A credible historian, which tries to portray the history with honesty, revealing details that are hidden from more "patriotic" tomes.
There is no shame in not being the centre of the universe and being not exactly whiter than white in our past - as long as we accept the past as it was , we can build the future on solid ground, not on fairy stories.
I read the illustrated edition, with maps, portraits and d ...more
A credible historian, which tries to portray the history with honesty, revealing details that are hidden from more "patriotic" tomes.
There is no shame in not being the centre of the universe and being not exactly whiter than white in our past - as long as we accept the past as it was , we can build the future on solid ground, not on fairy stories.
I read the illustrated edition, with maps, portraits and d ...more
This is a very intersting book for young people that would like to know the history of Romania and romanins. As well can be used by others to refresh their knowledge of history.
There are some ideas in it that are out of the main stream of most historians. One of them is the fact that the first rulers in Walachia were cumans, not romanians, as most historians agree.
My copy of this book is in romanian.
There are some ideas in it that are out of the main stream of most historians. One of them is the fact that the first rulers in Walachia were cumans, not romanians, as most historians agree.
My copy of this book is in romanian.
I learned a lot but it wasn't quite what I expected. This book, I'm pretty sure, was written for Romanians. As a non-Romanian, there were many details I would have liked that were left out. I kept getting the feeling the target audience had already consumed an in-depth stock history and this book is intended to pose a different perspective and emphasize details that had been obscure. Refuting the text-book version of events was somewhat wasted on me, since I had not read the text book.
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Great book. A concise, but complex book of Romania and all its history. A good starting point with an overall view of what made Romania what it is today.
Excellent book. Please note that the English version has been published and is available on Amazon (all sites). ISBN 1478132043
Romanian history falsified by the speculations of an old man.
If you are ever interested in the history of Romania but don't have the time or commitment to put too much history into reading about it, then this work is best suited for you.
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PERFECT FOR STUDYING - I GOT A 9+ THANKu MR. Djuvara ^^ It was a pleasue 8D
Jul 15, 2017
Eran Rabl
marked it as could-not-finish
Although the subject is fascinating, I couldn't handle the informal language and the blatant pro-Romania/anti-whatever propaganda in the short parts I did read.
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NEAGU M. DJUVARA s-a născut la Bucureşti în 1916, într-o familie de origine aromână aşezată în ţările române la sfârşitul secolului al XVIII-lea, care a dat ţării mai mulţi oameni politici, diplomaţi şi universitari. Licenţiat în litere la Sorbona (istorie, 1937) şi doctor în drept (Paris, 1940). Participă la campania din Basarabia şi Transnistria ca elev-ofiţer de rezervă (iunie-noiembrie 1941);
...more
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“Moralitatea batjocorită se repară mai greu decât uzinele învechite.”
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15 likes
“Moştenirea cea mai tragică constă în faptul că acea jumătate de secol ne-a stricat sufletul.
Un regim în care minciuna a fost ridicată la rangul de metodă de guvernare, în care teroarea a dezvoltat laşitatea la cei mai mulţi şi eroismul imprudent la câţiva, în care delaţiunea a fost considerată o virtute, în care furtul, nu numai din bunul statului dar şi din cea a vecinului, a sfârşit prin a apărea legitim din cauza privaţiunilor permanente şi a exemplului de înşelăciune venit de sus, un asemenea regim nu putea să nu lase urme profunde în mentalităţi şi comporamente. Ele sunt astăzi piedica majoră în integrarea noastră într-o lume nouă. Răul mi se pare atât de adânc şi de generalizat încât nu ştiu dacă generaţia celor care acum sunt tineri îl va putea stârpi. Moralitatea batjocorită se repară mai greu decât uzinele învechite. Poate doar generaţiile următoare să reuşească a regăsi echilibrul, dacă ar şti, cu hotărâre, să impună cultul cinstei, al respectului pentru cuvântul dat şi pentru semeni.”
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14 likes
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Un regim în care minciuna a fost ridicată la rangul de metodă de guvernare, în care teroarea a dezvoltat laşitatea la cei mai mulţi şi eroismul imprudent la câţiva, în care delaţiunea a fost considerată o virtute, în care furtul, nu numai din bunul statului dar şi din cea a vecinului, a sfârşit prin a apărea legitim din cauza privaţiunilor permanente şi a exemplului de înşelăciune venit de sus, un asemenea regim nu putea să nu lase urme profunde în mentalităţi şi comporamente. Ele sunt astăzi piedica majoră în integrarea noastră într-o lume nouă. Răul mi se pare atât de adânc şi de generalizat încât nu ştiu dacă generaţia celor care acum sunt tineri îl va putea stârpi. Moralitatea batjocorită se repară mai greu decât uzinele învechite. Poate doar generaţiile următoare să reuşească a regăsi echilibrul, dacă ar şti, cu hotărâre, să impună cultul cinstei, al respectului pentru cuvântul dat şi pentru semeni.”
