If you’re in search of some armchair travel or inspiration for your next trip, we’ve rounded up nine of our favourite books set in the western Balkans. Whether you’re looking to escape to the idyllic mountainscapes or understand the region’s complex past, these books will have you gripped - and perhaps even inspire you to visit the Balkans. Our carefully curated reading list will whisk you away to Mostar’s cobbled streets, Croatia’s turquoise lakes, and Albania’s timeless mountain villages. Meet Europe’s native Muslim communities in Tharik Hussain’s travelogue, follow ethnic Serb writer Mary Novakovich as she traces her family’s roots in Croatia, or watch four centuries of turbulent history play out on the Drina River in Nobel prize winner Ivo Andrić’s novel. Books set in Albania High Albania by Mary Edith Durham Follow intrepid Edwardian explorer Mary Edith Durham into the Balkans, a region few dared to cross at the turn of the 20th century when war and violence loomed over a collapsing Ottoman empire. Durham’s most famous book, High Albania, is a remarkable account of her adventures in the remote mountains of Albania and Montenegro where tribal communities lived untouched by modernity and foreign influence. You’ll be amazed by the stories and customs of the people she met. Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi Albanian writer Lea Ype gives an honest and insightful account of her life under the communist regime and after its collapse in her memoir Free. A fascinating read about one of the world’s most misunderstood countries, you will learn about the challenges and joys of living in Albania, which has long been overlooked by the rest of the world. Books set in Bosnia and Herzegovina Logavina street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood by Barbara Demick Pulitzer Prize-winning
If you’re in search of some armchair travel or inspiration for your next trip, we’ve rounded up nine of our favourite books set in the western Balkans. Whether you’re looking to escape to the idyllic mountainscapes or understand the region’s complex past, these books will have you gripped – and perhaps even inspire you to
