Books about Croatia

Guidebooks to Croatia  

Honestly, nothing can replace a good guidebook for your Croatian trip. I recommend Croatia Insight Step by Step Guide (available now for pre-order) and not only because I wrote it! This brand-new series presents you with 15 self-guided tours and itineraries crammed with all the inside tips I've collected in my 13 years of Croatia travel. The book comes with a detailed pull-out map that's so precise you won't even need any other maps.

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If you're looking for an active holiday in Croatia, then Rudolf Abraham's Walking in Croatia (Cicerone County Walking Series) Croatia is for you.

Croatia Maps

A good road map is essential for getting around Croatia. See my list of downloadable maps, online maps and recommended maps to buy.

Croatia Phrase books

Yes it's true that most Croatians you're likely to meet speak at least a little English but you'll have a better time if you learn to speak a little Croatian. Take a look at Lonely Planet's Croatian phrasebook with phrases for everything from "Where's the meeting? " to "You were made for me". And there are other tools (talking dictionaries, games) to make learning to speak Croatian fun.

Croatian Cookbooks

When you try the delicious food in Croatia, you may want to re-create the pleasure. See Croatian Cookbooks for my cookbook suggestions.

Literary Croatia

The mother of all regional travelogues is Rebecca West's marvellous Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, an account of the great lady's journey through the countries of former Yugoslavia before it was Yugoslavia (1936). It's a travel classic, filled with wit, insight and the literate West's elegant, rolling sentences.

In a completely different style, the inimitable Paul Theroux recounts his journey through the Mediterranean (including Croatia) in Pillars of Hercules.

Robert Kaplan's Balkan Ghosts is a travelogue with a decidedly different flavour, written just before the war in former Yugoslavia exploded.

Novelist Josip Novakovich explores his family's Croatian background in Plum Brandy: Croatian Journeys Beautifully written and insightful, this Croatian-American writer deserves to be read more widely.

Croatia's unique rural culture is fast disappearing. Fortunately Tony Fabijancic has given voice to Croatia's rural folk who recount their lives and struggles in Croatia: Travels in Undiscovered Country.

History

The latest book to examine Croatian history is Croatia Through History by Branka Maga, a Croatian historian, journalist and commentator. From early Croatia right through the crack-up of former Yugoslavia, this rigorous, scholarly analysis is also well written and impassioned.

The most complete account of Croatia's history is Marcus Tanner's A Nation Forged in War which covers it all, from the Slavic migration into the region until the 1990's war.

Journalist Mishy Glenny has written extensively about the passions that tore apart the Balkans. Try The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers or The Fall of Yugoslavia to understand Croatia's recent history.

Richard Holbrooke was the American officially in charge of negotiating the Dayton Accords which ended fighting in former Yugoslavia in 1995. His book To End a War is a fascinating account of the personalities and politics involved in the conflict and its resolution.

Life in Croatia

Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic writes frequently (in English) about living in Croatia. Read Cafe Europa: Life after Communism to find out what it's really like living in Croatia.

Croatia DVDs

Some great DVDs are available to get you psyched for your trip. More.

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