This accessible and engaging book covers the full span of Serbia's history, from the sixth-century Slav migrations up to the present day. It traces key developments surrounding the medieval and modern polities associated with Serbs, revealing a fascinating history of entanglements and communication between southeastern and wider Europe, sometimes with global implications. This is a history of Serb states, institutions, and societies, which also gives voice to individual experiences in an attempt to understand how the events described impacted the people who lived through them. Although no real continuity between the pre-modern and modern periods exists, Dejan Djokić draws out several common themes, including: migrations; the Serbs' relations with neighbouring empires and peoples; Serbia as a society formed in the imperial borderlands; and the polycentricity of Serbia. The volume also highlights the surprising vitality of Serb identity, and how it has survived in different incarnations over the centuries through reinvention.

‘Dejan Djokić takes the reader on a fascinating journey into Serbia´s turbulent past from prehistory to the present day, tracing key political, social, and institutional developments. Written with the benefit of hindsight after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the book offers a well-balanced analysis of historical continuities and discontinuities. This thought-provoking synthesis is highly recommended to all interested in the Balkan region.’

Marie-Janine Calic - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

‘History writing of the highest standard: richly informed, superbly lucid, clear-eyed in judgments yet not judgmental: Djokic has the rare gift of connecting distant history to urgent questions of the present, while never losing sight of the humans who made and lived this history. If he can be devastatingly critical, Djokic also envisions and celebrates a better Serbia, one true to national traditions and sentiments; he not only tells a full and absorbing story of the Serb past, but also explains what the past, often cruel but sometimes edifying, has meant to Serbs, and the peoples with whom they share this diverse region.’

John Connelly - University of California, Berkeley

‘This book establishes Djokić as the leading contemporary historian of Yugoslavia and especially Serbia, [it] demonstrates his enormous knowledge, a talent for identifying key [developments] … and an exquisite writing style … This is a seminal work … the best history of [Serbia] and its path to statehood written so far, a book that was needed. Djokić's modern and original approach, which emphasizes plurality of [Serbia's] society and contributions [to the making of Serbia] by members of minorities, marginalized groups and individuals who were never in power, sets an example of how to write great national histories.’

Dejan Jović Source: Trails: A Journal for Serbian and Croatian Themes

‘This book is a helpful introduction to Serbian history and admirably sums up the most important historical approaches to this nation’s past … Recommended.’

T. R. Weeks Source: Choice