Russkie o Serbii i serbah, Tom I.

For any student interested in either travel writing or in the history of Russia’s relationship with Serbia, this book is an excellent resource. It is a collection of primary sources, written between 1860 and 1917 by Russians observing Serbia and its inhabitants. The majority of these Russians were travellers in Serbia, in various capacities: some were diplomats, while others served as soldiers during the Eastern Crisis (1875-1878), and others still were scholars interested in learning more about their "South Slav brothers." They recorded their observations in a variety of formats, thus the compilation consists of diaries, letters to friends and relatives in Russia, and excerpts from previously published books and journal articles. These excerpts are arranged chronologically, beginning with letters written by the well-known Slavophile Ivan Aksakov to family and friends in Moscow. No doubt the choice of this as the book’s opening text is not coincidental: 1860 was the year Serbian King Milos Obrenovic died and was succeeded by his son Mihail, who immediately upon taking the throne set about implementing a series of reforms aimed at modernising his country. The compilation ends with excerpts written by Boris Astromov, a Russian war correspondent in Serbia during the First World War, as Serbia was preparing to join into the union with the Croats and Slovenes that would eventually be Yugoslavia. In total there are 48 excerpts written by 41 authors in this 700-page volume, which promises to be the first volume in a series of similar compilations of primary resources. Detailed and accurate footnotes are included to provide readers with background information on each of the authors.