Pettifer J., Vickers M. Lakes and Empires in Macedonian History: Contesting the Waters. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. 240 p. ISBN 978-1-3502-2614-2

Abstract

This review is devoted to the book “Lakes and Empires in Macedonian History: Contesting the Waters” by James Pettifer and Miranda Vickers. Two British authors who are world famous specialists in Balkan history (Oxford University Professor J. Pettifer and M. Vickers, now a “free agent”) present to the public the history of the Prespa Lake region, which gained some fame after the signing of the Prespa agreement. This agreement ended the Macedonian name dispute, which dated back to 1991. The authors, who have an impressive scholarly background, show the results of more than 30 years of study of the region. The review provides an overview of the book, the translation of which into Russian is not only the desire of the monograph’s authors, but also our recommendation. The book makes a successful attempt to trace the complex history of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious microcosm around the lake owned by three countries: Albania, Greece, and North Macedonia. Primary attention is paid to the history of the inhabitants of the village of Psarades / Nivitsi in Greek Macedonia. This small settlement on the shores of the Prespa, with a long history of political upheavals, now, like the entire region, also faces environmental diffi culties – the problem of the lake’s shallowing clearly demonstrates new challenges for the inhabitants of this Balkan microcosm, which traditionally has been oriented towards fi shing. The authors use a wide variety of scientifi c methods for the description, analysis, and study of the Prespa region. Specifi c attention in this review is paid to the methods of studying ecological history.