Contested Frontiers in The Bal Ottoman and Habsburg Rivalries in Eastern Europe

'Few works analyse more clearly the multi-layered, multi-ethnic history of Central Europe than this penetrating study of the Banat. Not only does it offer a transnational history of this province, with a focus on the impact and legacy of successive types of imperial rule on a multi-ethnic borderland, but it proposes a different way of looking at the history of the region as a synthesis of converfing political and social influences, going beyond the narrow framework of national histories. Based on an impressive familiarity with a wide range of sources, Irina Marin's book represents a significant intellectual achievement.' Dennis Deletant, Visiting Ion Ratiu Professor of Romanian Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC.