Description: The Baltic region is frequently neglected in broader histories of Europe and its international significance can be obscured by separate treatments of the various Baltic states. With this wide-ranging survey, Andrejs Plakans presents the first integrated history of three Baltic peoples - Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians - and draws out the common threads to show how it has been shaped by their location in a strategically desirable corner of Europe. Subordinated in turn by Baltic German landholders, the Polish nobility and gentry, and then by Russian and Soviet administrators, the three nations have nevertheless kept a their distinctive identities - significantly retaining three separate languages in an ethnically diverse region. The book traces the countries' evolution from their ninth-century tribal beginnings to their present status as three thriving and separate nation states, focusing particularly on the region's complex twentieth-century history, which culminated in the eventual re-establishment of national sovereignty after 1991.
Brief description: Andrejs Plakans is Professor Emeritus at the Department of History, Iowa State University. His previous publications include The Latvians: A Short History (1995) and the Historical Dictionary of Latvia, 2nd edition (2008).
Review Quotes: Within the limitations of his space and his chosen approach Professor Plakans achieves a successful mix of ethnic, political and cultural history and, as a competent ploughman, draws a well-directed furrow through the historical complexities of his subject. Overall the book provides a well-informed, balanced and readable account of the history of the three peoples of the eastern Baltic littoral, in both its earlier development and its current form." -Roger Bartlett, Journal of European Studies