"Albania in the Twentieth Century: A History" represents an unparalleled achievement in scholarship on Albania. Owen Pearson presents a complete account of the twentieth century in Albania, from its breakaway from the Ottoman Empire in 1908 to the Kosova War in 1999. In fascinating detail, Pearson chronicles the monarchy of King Zog and the wartime period where Albania became a battleground for the Greek, Italian and German armies. He describes Enver Hoxha's seizure of power, the country's fraught relationship with the post-Stalin Soviet Union and Maoist China's fraternal embrace of Albania,...