Bulgaria is slated to become a member of the European Union in 2007 yet itshistory is amongst the least well known in the rest of the continent. RichardCrampton... » 

Bulgaria is slated to become a member of the European Union in 2007 yet itshistory is amongst the least well known in the rest of the continent. RichardCrampton provides here a general introduction to this country at the crossroads of Christendom and Islam. The text and illustrations trace the rich anddramatic story from prehistory through the days when Bulgaria was the centreof a powerful medieval empire and the five centuries of Ottoman rule to thecultural renaissance of the nineteenth century and the political upheavals ofthe twentieth upheavals which led Bulgaria into three wars. The new andupdated edition includes the years from 1995 to 2004 a vital period in whichBulgaria endured financial meltdown set itself seriously on the road toreform elected its former King as prime minister and finally securedmembership of NATO and admission to the European Union. «