Review by Choice Review
Poised on the frontier of the Venetian, Habsburg, and Ottoman Empires, the Croatian coastal town of Senj was a sanctuary for refugees from all three states. For more than 80 years, Uskoks, independent fugitive Christian soldiers, thought of themselves as the first line of defense against the Muslim world. Their existence was sporadically aided by the Habsburgs, but they were more often pawns in the imperial struggle. Plunder was the main product of this brotherhood of social bandits, who justified their land and sea raids as a holy crusade, but in fact often attacked Venetian ships and Habsburg villages. Their demise in the early 1600s came largely from the diplomatic settlements of the three empires, which subsequently cooperated to rid the area of the band. Bracewell masterfully paints a portrait of these principled and colorful folk heroes, drawing on an impressive array of sources, some perhaps recently destroyed. Apart from the scholarly tale, this account offers a most readable and timely perspective on the present chaos of the south Slav region. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty; general. J. E. Brink; Texas Tech University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
