Background
Fine, John Van Antwerp was born on September 9, 1939 in Albany, New York, United States. Son of John Van Antwerp and Elizabeth (Bunting) Fine.
(Most of what has been written on the medieval Balkans—the...)
Most of what has been written on the medieval Balkans—the area that now encompasses Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania— has been little more than a footnote to Byzantine history or has been limited to narrow national histories. The Early Medieval Balkans is the first comprehensive examination of the events of early medieval Balkan history—events that were as important as they are fascinating. The period that John Fine examines was an era of significant demographic, political, and religious change in the region. During this time, native populations were supplemented or replaced by the Bulgars and various Slavic tribes, who were to become the Bulgarians, Serbs, and Croats—ethnic identities that exist to this day. They formed their first states and fought both militarily and politically, and with varying degrees of success, for protection from the domination of Constantinople and each other. Equally important, most of the people of the Balkans were converted to Christianity during this period and came under the religious jurisdiction of either Rome or Constantinople, thus determined which people would be Roman Catholic and which Eastern Orthodox at the time of the Great Schism. This polarity of religious loyalty has persisted into the twentieth century. This thorough and detailed study cuts through many of the myths and assumptions that have pervaded previous histories of the Balkans. It is an important source for those who wish to expand their knowledge of this turbulent period and who wish to broaden their understanding of the region.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472081497/?tag=2022091-20
( "This is history as it should be written. In When Ethni...)
"This is history as it should be written. In When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans, a logical advancement on his earlier studies, Fine has successfully tackled a fascinating historical question, one having broad political implications for our own times. Fine's approach is to demonstrate how ideas of identity and self-identity were invented and evolved in medieval and early-modern times. At the same time, this book can be read as a critique of twentieth-century historiography-and this makes Fine's contribution even more valuable. This book is an original, much-needed contribution to the field of Balkan studies." -Steve Rapp, Associate Professor of Caucasian, Byzantine, and Eurasian History, and Director, Program in World History and Cultures Department of History, Georgia State University Atlanta When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans is a study of the people who lived in what is now Croatia during the Middle Ages (roughly 600-1500) and the early-modern period (1500-1800), and how they identified themselves and were identified by others. John V. A. Fine, Jr., advances the discussion of identity by asking such questions as: Did most, some, or any of the population of that territory see itself as Croatian? If some did not, to what other communities did they consider themselves to belong? Were the labels attached to a given person or population fixed or could they change? And were some people members of several different communities at a given moment? And if there were competing identities, which identities held sway in which particular regions? In When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans, Fine investigates the identity labels (and their meaning) employed by and about the medieval and early-modern population of the lands that make up present-day Croatia. Religion, local residence, and narrow family or broader clan all played important parts in past and present identities. Fine, however, concentrates chiefly on broader secular names that reflect attachment to a city, region, tribe or clan, a labeled people, or state. The result is a magisterial analysis showing us the complexity of pre-national identity in Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia. There can be no question that the medieval and early-modern periods were pre-national times, but Fine has taken a further step by demonstrating that the medieval and early-modern eras in this region were also pre-ethnic so far as local identities are concerned. The back-projection of twentieth-century forms of identity into the pre-modern past by patriotic and nationalist historians has been brought to light. Though this back-projection is not always misleading, it can be; Fine is fully cognizant of the danger and has risen to the occasion to combat it while frequently remarking in the text that his findings for the Balkans have parallels elsewhere. John V. A. Fine, Jr. is Professor of History at the University of Michigan.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047211414X/?tag=2022091-20
( "Any further advances in scholarship on the late mediev...)
"Any further advances in scholarship on the late medieval Balkans will have to begin with this book." ---George Majeska, University of Maryland The Late Medieval Balkans is the first comprehensive examination of the events of the late medieval Balkan history---events that were as important as they were fascinating. The period that John Fine examines was an era of significant demographic, political, and religious change in the region. During this time, native populations were supplemented or replaced by the Bulgars and various Slavic tribes, who were to become the Bulgarians, Serbs, and Croats---ethnic identities whose historical conflicts have persisted to this day. The Late Medieval Balkans is an important source for those who wish to expand their knowledge of this turbulent period and who wish to broaden their understanding of the region. John V. A. Fine, Jr., is Professor of History, University of Michigan.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472082604/?tag=2022091-20
Fine, John Van Antwerp was born on September 9, 1939 in Albany, New York, United States. Son of John Van Antwerp and Elizabeth (Bunting) Fine.
Bachelor in History, Harvard University, 1961; Master of Arts in History, Harvard University, 1965; Doctor of Philosophy in History, Harvard University, 1968.
Instructor history, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1968-1969; from assistant professor to professor of history, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, since 1969. Visiting professor of history U. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, 1972. American liaison Mobile U., Sarajevo, Bosnia, since 1994.
(Most of what has been written on the medieval Balkans—the...)
( "Any further advances in scholarship on the late mediev...)
( "This is history as it should be written. In When Ethni...)
(Will be shipped from US. Brand new copy.)
Member Institute History-Republic of Bosnia (permanent foreign associate).
Married Gena Milenkovic, June 14, 1964. Children: Alexander, Paul.