Albania Bibliography

[Bob]

As per Eric's post elsewhere about further expanding eastern european socialist state research, I figured a good way to start would be to use the existing forum. So let's use this thread for any books that would be useful for studying Albanian awards.

First, a very useful book for learning about the history of Albania:

- History of the Party of Labor of Albania

- Published by the "Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies at the Central Committee of the Party of Labor of Albania"

I bought it on eBay but see now that you can also easily get it on www.abe.com

Have just browsed through it sofar but provides a lot of interesting background to an important institution as well as dates / names in Albanian history.

[Eric Schena]

Here's my contribution to the Albanian bibliography:

R?glement sur les Titres, Ordres et M?dailles de la R?publique Populaire D?Albanie, Paris, no date (c. 1962 ? 1964).

Titujt, Urdh?rat dhe Medaljet e Republik?s Popullore t? Shqip?ris?, Tiran?, 1968.

Titujt e Nderit dhe Dekoratat e Republik?s Popullore Socialiste t? Shqip?ris? (Ligji dhe Vendimi), Tiran?, 1982.

Here are some laws and decrees that I also used:

DEKRET Nr.4400, 7.6.1968

DEKRET Nr.4783, 24.12.1970

VENDIM Nr.214, 15.2.1973

DEKRET Nr.5631, 30.9.1977

LIGJ Nr.6133, 12.2.1980

For historical background:

Fisher, Bernd J., Albania at War 1939-1945, 1999.

Nigel, Thomas & Abbott, Peter, Partisan Warfare 1941-1945, 1996.

Tomes, Jason Hunter, King Zog of Albania: Europe?s Self Made Muslim King, 2004.

As for the History of the Party of Labor of Albania, I suggest reading that book with a skeptical/critical eye. Studying Albanian history from the communist period is fraught with challenges, not the least of which is the notion of battling dueling ideologies. Many of the books that were written about the PPSH were either written by the PPSH or by opponents to them, in particular exiled early communist leaders or Yugoslav communists, both of whom sought to discredit the Hoxha regime. Many of the books that came out by official party organs were specifically geared towards underpinning the ideological foundations of the PPSH and took great liberties with fact and the "opposition press" went to the opposite extreme. So you end up with a case of two camps opposed to one another each trying to discredit the other. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, it's just sorting out the wheat from the chaff. That is not to say this book is not important - it is very important - just be mindful of the source

Cheers,

Eric

[Bob]

True, but besides being important... I find it all very amusing to read socialist propaganda "lingo"...

To give a more modern day example:

"Socialism is human. Socialism is love" - Hugo Chavez upon winning elections this week:)