Serbia

Grade 5-10-An accessible, well-illustrated overview of this country's geography, history, economy, government, and culture. Chapters on daily life, sports, and the arts are particularly appealing because they feature young people and their interests, such as ballet, basketball, skiing, music, and movies. Plentiful sidebars complement the main text. One compares the Cyrillic and Roman alphabets while another discusses typical forms of greeting. Perhaps the most relevant chapters for students trying to understand the complex current events in the Balkans are those that discuss Serbia's diverse religious and ethnic origins and their effect on the region's long history of instability. Excellent, sometimes sobering full-color photographs celebrate the country's beauty but reveal a land in which past and present struggle to coexist: a modern car driving down a highway beside a horse-drawn cart, a photograph of a crowd of teenagers reveling at a rock concert while in another people wait in a long line for bread rations. Three pages of "Fast Facts" offer quick, essential information. Unfortunately, the 1999 NATO strikes are not covered so a critical piece of the ever-changing picture is missing. However, a list of Web sites may provide students with the opportunity to fill in the details of those events.
William McLoughlin, Brookside School, Worthington, OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.