There is more writing on Bulgaria than you might initially imagine - though, as a rule, it appears more in books on the Balkans as a whole rather than forming the central subject of either travel writing or fiction. Sadly, much of it is no longer in print. What follows is a collection of books about the country either currently in print, or out of print (o/p) and available in larger libraries or specialist secondhand bookstores. Titles marked * are particularly recommended
Travel books and general accounts
Frank Cox
Bulgaria
(UK, A & C Black o/p). The
Morning Post
's Bulgaria correspondent during the Balkan Wars, Cox was impressed by a well-organized country that seemed to have imposed order on this hitherto chaotic corner...
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Guide books
Peter Carney and Meri Anastassova
Bulgaria: the Mountain Resorts
(Bulgaria, PMC). Useful guide to the highland regions, written by a Sofia-based team and full of insightful nuggets. On sale from bookshops and kiosks in Bulgaria, as are...
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History, politics and sociology
Amnesty International
Bulgaria: Imprisonment of Ethnic Turks
(UK, Amnesty o/p). Reports on the forced "assimilation" of Bulgaria's largest minority group, using documentary, eye-witness and hearsay evidence.
Christ...
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Fiction and poetry
Ivan Davidikov
(trans Ewald Osers)
Fires of the Sunflower
(UK, Forest; US, Dufour). Representative range of works by a well-respected contemporary lyric poet.
Blaga Dimitrova
(trans Brenda Walker and Belin Tonchev)
...
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Bulgaria in Western literature
Julian Barnes
The Porcupine
(UK, Picador; US, Vintage o/p). Political satire centring on the trial of deposed Communist dictator Stoyo Petkanov - a fictional character based on Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov. A telling account of how...
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Cuisine
Dan Philpott
The Wine and Food of Bulgaria
(UK, Mitchell Beazley o/p). Marrying coffee-table values with practical, easy-to-follow recipes: an essential buy if you want to tell your
kebapche
from your
kavarma
.
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