Why Is Romania Different?

‘The first difficulty for Romania is to define its place on the map of Europe. To which zone does it belong? To Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Central Europe? It is not difficult to see that, from a strictly geographical point of view, the Balkan Peninsula does not include Romania. Its northern border is formed by the Danube and Romania is located north of the Danube, with the exception of Dobrudja, a region situated between the Danube (to the west and north) and the Black Sea (to the east). Yet it is not only land, mountains and rivers that define the space of civilisation. Romania is largely Balkan through its long history, through its diverse human and cultural relations.’

No comprehensive study of Romania’s history has been published in Poland since the 1970s. During this time, the country itself has undergone a complicated and paradox-laden path of transformation from one of the harshest communist dictatorships to a democratic member state of the European Union. The case of Romania is therefore as fascinating as it is demanding a new holistic and critical view.

Both of these requirements are fulfilled by the book by Lucian Boi, the most prominent Romanian historian today and one of the most important intellectuals present in the Romanian public debate. His diagnoses on the role of history in the contemporary consciousness of Romanians are crucial for understanding Romanian identity today and the nature of Romanian transformation and modernisation at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Professor Boia boldly challenges various Romanian myths and autostereotypes, and his books are discussed much more widely in Romania than in the academic circle of historians.