Border by Kapka
Kassabova
Barry Williamson
Spain, February 2017
The
Guardian reviewer wrote: “This is a marvellous, personal account of the
border zone between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece, from the Ottomans to cold war
menace and beyond.”
Not very far from Camping Sakar Hills in southeast
Bulgaria, this is an area we know well, cycling and walking in the Rhodope Mountains. This well-written book gives a fresh, insightful and very informative account from an author who grew up in southeast Bulgaria in the days of the communist regime. In our comment on the review in the
Guardian, we wrote:
“This is a border area we first passed through in 1989, cycling from
the UK to Istanbul. At the Turkish border were long queues of what were called
'Bulgarian Turks' pushing their possessions in carts, being expelled into
Turkey. There was another long queue of Mercedes and BMW cars in the opposite
direction: Turkish Gastarbeiter returning to work in Germany! We have
been back into that intriguing corner of Europe many times since, not least
exploring its Thracian history.
The
Pomak Ceremony mentioned in the photograph's caption would be the circumcision
of the little boy with the crown - a prince for the day.”
The book is available in paperback from the Guardian Bookshop
or from Amazon
which also sells a Kindle edition.
There are many more recommended Books for Travelling
on this website in the section we call Ramblings.
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