Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

by Rebecca West

Hailed as among the most important books of the twentieth century, Rebecca West's magnum opus is a history, a travelogue, and a sociological study of Yugoslavia that examines how the past shapes the present In a breathtakingly wide-ranging journalistic work, West richly chronicles her travels throughout Yugoslavia in the 1930s, introducing vivid characters and illuminating details. More than a travelogue, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon connects the people and places West encounters to the long history of conflict that has formed national identities in the Balkans across a millennium of shifting alliances. West writes, "I had come to Yugoslavia because I knew that the past has made the present, and I wanted to see how the process works." As profound, sad, and funny as when it was first published in 1941, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon interrogates the forces that continue to shape our modern world.