Discover GEEO’s recommended books to read before you travel to the Balkans. Our book club is a way for travelers to learn through literature about the places they’ll visit.
These are some of our favorites about the Balkans, so if you’re heading there, take a look (the GEEO book club is not a required element of our programs, just a bit of added fun)! We hope you will enjoy the books we have selected and they will enhance your experience.
You should be able to find most of our selections through the links below and in your local library system as well. Do you have any feedback on our selections or suggestions for additions? Contact us and let us know!
Recommended books to read before traveling to the Balkans:
Fiction:
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Girl at War by Sara Novic (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
Nonfiction:
- Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Wartime Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History by Robert D. Kaplan (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
For those looking for more suggestions, here are some other books you may want to consider:
- Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- A Traveller’s History of Croatia by Benjamin Curtis (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- How We Survived Communism & Even Laughed by Slavenka Drakulic (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Safe Area Goražde by Joe Sacco (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- S.: A Novel about the Balkans by Slavenka Drakulic (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Bosnia: A Short History by Noel Malcolm (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Goodbye Sarajevo: A True Story of Courage, Love and Survival by Atka Reid and Hana Schofield (Amazon)
- The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
- Montenegro: The Divided Land by Thomas Fleming (Amazon)
- Montenegro by Starling Lawrence (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
GEEO utilizes both Bookshop.org and Amazon Associates links for the above-suggested books. If you purchase a book through one of the links above, you’re supporting us as a nonprofit and helping more teachers travel through GEEO!