Rating: 
Summary: Makes you understand why the Balkans got into this soup.
Review: In 1985 I travelled to Sarajevo on business. The organization I had to
negotiate with was headed by a Bosnian Moslem, but true to the character of what was then Bosnia Herzecovina the employees were Bosnian Moslems, Serbs, Croats, all the pantheon of what was then Yugoslavia. I recall being taken out to dinner by the Bosnian Moslem project manager, who described to his assistant about the days he had attended the Islamic theological school when we were passing by the school. It came as a great surprise to me, and by all accounts to most of the people of the world, to see the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia as we know it. This book provides some of the reasons
why. Aside from Yugoslavia, the book also provides insights into Bulgaria, Greece, Rumania, and Turkey. Some readers, no doubt will be put off
by the author's emphasis on the "bozouki music" aspect of Greece.
I found it provided me with an understanding of a Greek officer I met at a British university -- looking Middle Eastern but flaring up when his colleague commented that the modern Greek had more Middle Eastern blood in his system than anything else. I was a bit curious about the author's treatment of the Turks as being less schizophrenic than their Balkan neighbors. Turkey certainly has
its share of problems, albeit maybe of a different nature than that of its
neighbors. Why didn't that part come through?
Rating:
Summary: "Good material for those who are curious about the Balkans"
Review: When it came out in 1994, this was of the first quality account of the Balkans that the general public could go to for information on the region. Politics are always the backdrop of this travelogue, but there is good general material for those that are curious about the former Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania-its history of ethnic clashes and violence, the origins of World War I and II, as well as the Balkans of the bloody 1990s. Kaplan has his critics, but he also has plenty of admirers, and you have to at least enjoy a writer who can cause so much controversy.
Rating:
Summary: worth reading, if not the ultimate authority
Review: Since Balkan Ghosts appeared in 1993, a tremendous body of literature about the Balkans and particularly the Balkan wars of the 90s has appeared. Robert Kaplan's jaunt through the deep, dark Balkans seems sorely old and plain bleak.Supposedly this was the book Bill Clinton read that convinced him the problems of the Balkans were beyond control since it was all about ancient hatred, etc, etc. a popular conception during the media-heavy Bosnian war. Balkan Ghosts is...depressing. There are some truly depressing chapters, in particular the parts about Romania and the legacy of Ceaucescu's madness, as well as the bits on Kosovo and its Alabanians. I'm not sure what the purpose is through all of it. The essence that Kaplan seems to have about the Balkans is that its dark in every way, it's a world we can only watch but never learn. It's a bit offensive, is what the book is. There is a detached arrogance to the observations, but it's tinged with distain. There are plenty of serious books on the history of the Balkans that focus on more than the rusted effects of Communism or the same old ancient hatred and distrust lores that continue to spin and spin as excuses.
Rating: 
Summary: A simplistic and thus dangerous description of the Balkans
Review: There's a reason they say Kaplan's books rest on the bedside tables of Presidents...Kaplan, besides being a shrewd and intelligent analyst of human behavior, and having an immaculate eye for detail, is a skilled writer...It is in his books that you can read about history and politics and conflict as though it were an epic story, his words painting beautiful pictures in your head. But more importantly, Kaplan is able to convey a depth to the history and events that make up nations and cultures...reading Kaplan means you get to see beyond the facts and figures, dates and names, to the people, the emotions, and the actual factors that brought about the past and present, and will eventually bring about the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Trying to be Prophetic, Kaplan is just PATHETIC
Review: Kaplan believes the Serbs are the indigenous people of the region, this belief is evident through-out the book. He literally says they were the most cultured people in Europe since the Middle Ages, he says "when the Austrian King's were still signing their names with a thumb print, the Serb monarchy was writing poetry". Keep in mind Kaplan wrote this book about the same time the Dayton Accords were being signed, so he was trying to be clairvoyant in his writings, trying to predict what will happen next in the Balkans before it actually happened. He really shot himself in the foot, and made himself look like a real idiot here. The Serbs continued to murder newborns, rape and kill women, and children, chase people out of heir homes. All in their quest for a Greater Serbian State encompassing the Balkans as a whole. Good job calling that one Kaplan, you idiot. I remember in one paragraph he describes a village in Kosova as a Serbian enclave. What a shmuck you must be, there are no Serbian enclaves in Kosova, there never were there was only forced segregation and discrimination against the Albanian in Kosova. Didn't you notice the scared women and children in the streets? How do you explain a minority (Serbs) in Kosova controlling all the political, military, and public safety posts of the area? I cant believe how stupid you must be. Kaplan actually says in the prologue "I heard Clinton read this book before negotiating the Dayton accord." Give me a break, the book is a documentary of how a naive American perceived the Balkan situation from a hotel room, while getting drunk with nationalist maniacs, and Serb prostitutes. Kaplan, give up your clairvoyant quest, and stick to writing Travel books.
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