GOLDSTEIN'S 'CROATIA - A HISTORY' PRESENTED IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Feb 27 (Hina) - In his book "Croatia - A History", author Ivo Goldstein's approach to Croatia's history is balanced, objective and scientific, without attempts at embellishing or denigrating it, historian Neven Budak said presenting the book in Zagreb earlier this week. From a methodological point of view, Goldstein has made a successful step towards a brief synthesis of Croatia's history, Budak said, adding the book was an important contribution to an overview of Croatian history in general, especially in foreign language editions. Britain's Hurst published the book last year in cooperation with University Press from Montreal, as part of a series of books on recent European history. A Croatian edition, somewhat expanded, should appear in the autumn. Aimed at the international public, Goldstein's book focuses on 20th century history, dealing much less with past periods, even medieval history, the author's course at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. Goldstein dedicates 155 of 280 pages to Croatia's history from 1918 to the present, and about 60 to events from the last decade. Over nine major chapters, broken down by a time "key", the author outlines the basic political events, while at the same time making an attempt to value the whole social picture, professor Marijan Maticka said at the presentation. The result of Goldstein's efforts is an articulate and logically presented course of events, he added. According to professor Sonja Bicanic, Goldstein's book finally gives the foreign reader a clear insight into Croatia's history. The book is easy to read because it is clearly written, Bicanic said, adding this was the result of Goldstein's clear ideas and his clear and short sentences, a style, she added, which is well- accepted in English. The author pointed out the focus of his book was an illustration of the liberal-democratic tendencies in the building of civic society in Croatia. (hina) ha