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Bulgaria has an ancient history, delicious food, beautiful music, old churches, and roses. If you’re planning on visiting Bulgaria for the first time and don’t know what to expect, here is a list of books, fiction, and nonfiction, that will give you a glance on how your journey may be enjoyable.
Nonfiction
Agnes Sachsenroeder - Culture Shock! Bulgaria
A guide for those travellers who are looking to
understand the countries they are visiting. It contains: insights into the
people and their culture and traditions; advice on adapting into the local
environment; linguistic help and hints on how to learn the language and do
business; and, a list of foreign words and phrases.
Annie Kay - Bulgaria. The Bradt Guide
Bulgaria's charms include the attractive Black
Sea coastline with a mixture of secluded coves and nature reserves; rugged
mountainous scenery, with a wealth of wild flowers, birds and mammals; and
several flourishing ski resorts. This corner of eastern Europe can also boast
nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, all included in detail in the Bradt guide.
Bozhidar Dimitrov - Bulgarians: The First Europeans
With its territory of 111 000 square kilometers
and population of about 9 million people, Bulgaria is on 12- 13th place among
the fifty European states concerning territory and population, but is quite
unknown to the European world. It is hardly the right place here to look for
the reasons for this fact. However, the main reason may lie in the circumstance
that Bulgaria and the Bulgarians have not "produced" for the last
fifty years "bad" news, which would put the country and its citizens
on to the top of news agencies" and media"s prime-time.
Brian Hall - Stealing from a Deep
Place: Travels in South-Eastern Europe
This book chronicles the author's travels by
bicycle through the mountainous roads of Romania and Bulgaria, a journey from
which he garnered an empathetic understanding of people and politics behind the
Iron Curtain.
Don Philpott - Wine and Food of Bulgaria
This book is the first detailed guide to the
wines and cuisine of Bulgaria. The author has visited all the country's wine
regions and has received unstinting help from the managers of the vineyards and
wineries. He has written a detailed account of the regions and their wines and
the climates, soils and techniques that shape them. Supporting chapters give a
full picture of Bulgaria's climate, culture and history.
James Pettifer - Blue Guide Bulgaria
Bulgaria's best-kept secrets include historic
towns and villages, frescoed churches, and fine beaches unspoiled by
development. This new guide offers a wealth of history, with practical
information for tourist and business traveler alike.
Jonathan Bousfield, Dan Richardson - The Rough Guide to
Bulgaria
This guide to this little known but deeply
rewarding country, includes comprehensive accounts of all the sights from the
capital Sofia to the time-warped villiages and wayside monasteries. It includes
practical advice on outdoor pursuits - the best hikes, ski centres and Black
Sea beaches - plus a run-dwon on all the folk festivals and informed
commentaries on Bulgaria's turbulent history.
Julian Perry - Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks
A guide to walking and trekking in Bulgaria.
The routes are based in the Pirin, Rila and Central Balkan national parks that
cover the three wildest and most majestic mountain regions of Bulgaria. For
walkers and trekkers Bulgaria is an unexpected paradise, boasting an amazing
variety of landscapes and an outstandingly rich biodiversity.
Juliana Tzvetkova - Bulgaria - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs&Culture
Bulgaria, situated in southeastern Europe on
the Black Sea, is one of Europe’s best-hidden secrets. A haven for nature and
history buffs, this beautiful sunny country welcomes the traveler with bread
and salt, a red rose, and wooden vessel full of sparkling wine. These three
emblems of ancient treasures, rose oil, and natural beauty symbolize its
distinctive culture.
Kapka Kassabova - Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe
Kapka Kassabova returns to Bulgaria, from where
she emigrated as a girl twenty-five years previously, to explore the border it
shares with Turkey and Greece. Kassabova discovers a place that has
been shaped by successive forces of history: the Soviet and Ottoman empires,
and, older still, myth and legend. Her exquisite portraits of fire walkers,
smugglers, treasure hunters, botanists, and border guards populate the book.
Kapka Kassabova - Street Without a Name: Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria
Kassabova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and grew
up under the drab, muddy, grey mantle of one of communism's most mindlessly
authoritarian regimes. Escaping with her family as soon as possible after the
collapse of the Berlin Wall, she lived in Britain, New Zealand, and Argentina,
and several other places. But when Bulgaria was formally inducted to the
European Union she decided it was time to return to the home she had spent most
of her life trying to escape. What she found was a country languishing under
the strain of transition.
Nikolay Ovcharov - The Shortest History of Bulgaria
The book presents the history of Bulgaria in a
short, but rather detailed way. You will find information about the
“Rock People” from Rhodope, Strandja and Sakar Mountains, The Sacred City of
the Thracians Perperikon, the village of Starosel, the “Valley of the Kings”,
the gold of the Ancient Thracians, the first Bulgarian capital Pliska,
Christianity, the First Golden Age, the Turkish incursion in the
Balkans, the Darkness of Slavery, the National
Liberation Struggles of the Bulgarian People in the 19th Century, Liberation
from Ottoman Domination, Balkan Wars, World Wars.
Ronesa Aveela - Light Love Rituals: Bulgarian Myths, Legends and Folklore
Bulgarian culture is rich in folklore and
traditions surviving since the days of the ancient Thracians. As pagan and
Christian religions collided, many celebrations merged into one. “Light Love
Rituals” will take you on a journey to discover these unique festivals. Whether
you want to learn a little about their ancient Thracian origins, or you want to
experience rituals practiced throughout the year with a fictitious Bulgarian
family, or even if you’re only interested in traditional Bulgarian cuisine,
this book has something for everyone.
Fiction
Aleko Konstantinov - Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian
Bai Ganyo follows the misadventures of rose-oil salesman Ganyo
Balkanski as he travels in Europe. Unkempt but endearing, Ganyo blusters his
way through refined society in Vienna, Dresden, and St. Petersburg with an eye
peeled for pickpockets and a free lunch. Konstantinov’s satire turns darker
when Bai Ganyo returns home—bullying, bribing, and rigging elections in
Bulgaria, a new country that had recently emerged piecemeal from the Ottoman
Empire with the help of Czarist Russia.
A strange proposal jolts Kossara out of her
comfortable, but dull life. Haunted by the memory of her dead father, she
returns to her native Bulgaria to retrieve an artefact that would re-launch her
academic career. She soon discovers that she is getting more than she bargained
for. When her life and the lives of those dear to her are threatened, she must
decide whether to give up or persevere.
Ellis Shuman - Valley of Thracians: A Novel of Bulgaria
A Peace Corps volunteer has gone missing in
Bulgaria and everyone assumes he is dead, everyone except his grandfather, who
refuses to give up hope. Retired literature professor Simon Matthews launches a
desperate search only to be lured into a bizarre quest to retrieve a stolen
Thracian artifact—a unique object of immense value others will stop at nothing
to recover.
Ivan Vazov - Under the Yoke: A Romance of Bulgarian
Liberty
The tranquility in a Bulgarian village under
Ottoman rule is only superficial: the people are quietly preparing for an
uprising. The plot follows the story of Boycho Ognyanov, who, having escaped
from a prison in Diarbekir, returns to the Bulgarian town of Byala Cherkva
(White Church, today Sopot) to take part in the rebellion. There he meets old
friends, enemies, and the love of his life. The plot portrays the personal
drama of the characters, their emotions, motives for taking part in or standing
against the rebellion, betrayal and conflict. Historically, the uprising fails due to bad organization, limited resources,
and betrayal. The way in which the Ottomans break the uprising down then
becomes the pretext for the Russian-Turkish war, that brought about Bulgarian
independence.
Haitov’s tales are set in the small villages of
the Rhodope Mountains in south-east Bulgaria, one of the most remote corners of
Europe. They are related in a robust, down-to-earth style by a series of finely
realized narrators, most of whom look back to the ea rly years of this century
and beyond, when brides were stolen and bandits roamed the hills. These men –
shepherds, shoemakers, coopers and foresters –speak to the reader directly,
involving him in their triumphs, their disappointments, their exploits in love
or in business. Each has a tale to tell, and tells it superbly.
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