Out Of Albania

Analysing the post-1990 Albanian migration to Italy, this text is a study of one of Europe's newest, most dramatic yet least understood migrations. It explores the dynamics of this migration and takes a look at migrants' employment, housing and social exclusion in the country, as well as the process of return migration to Albania.

In the Fall of 1943, 30 members of the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron were stranded behind enemy lines. For the next 62 days they would try to find their way back. Sgt. Lawrence Abbott, rarely spoke of his WWII experiences to anyone. Years after he passed away, an unpublished manuscript he wrote in 1945, was found, detailing this experience. The story is now available for all to learn about.

In the Fall of 1943, 30 members of the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron were stranded behind enemy lines. For the next 62 days they would try to find their way back. Sgt. Lawrence Abbott, rarely spoke of his WWII experiences to anyone. Years after he passed away, an unpublished manuscript he wrote in 1945, was found, detailing this experience. The story is now available for all to learn about

In the early 1990s, Albania, arguably Europe’s most closed and repressive state, began a startling transition out of forty years of self-imposed Communist isolation. Albanians who were not allowed to practice religion, travel abroad, wear jeans, or read “decadent” Western literature began to devour the outside world. They opened cafés, companies, and newspapers. Previously banned rock music blared in the streets. Modern Albania offers a vivid history of the Albanian Communist regime’s fall and the trials and tribulations that led the country to become the state it is today. The book provides an in-depth look at the Communists' last Politburo meetings and the first student revolts, the fall of the Stalinist regime, the outflows of refugees, the crash of the massive pyramid-loan schemes, the war in neighboring Kosovo, and Albania’s relationship with the United States. Fred Abrahams weaves together personal experience from more than twenty years of work in Albania, interviews with key Albanians and foreigners who played a role in the country’s politics since 1990—including former Politburo members, opposition leaders, intelligence agents, diplomats, and founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army—and a close examination of hundreds of previously secret government records from Albania and the United States. A rich, narratively-driven account, Modern Albania gives readers a front-row seat to the dramatic events of the last battle of Cold War Europe.

Analysing the dynamics of the post-1990 Albanian migration to Italy, this book is the first major study of one of Europe’s newest, most dramatic yet least understood migrations. It takes a close look at migrants’ employment, housing and social exclusion in Italy, as well as the process of return migration to Albania. The research described in the book challenges the pervasive stereotype of the “bad Albanian” and, through in-depth fieldwork on Albanian communities in Italy and back in Albania, provides rich insights into the Albanian experience of migration, settlement and return in both their positive and their negative aspects.

What do the people of Albania do for fun? What languages do they speak? What do they eat? Readers discover the answers to these questions and many more about life in Albania. They'll explore detailed text that includes the most current information and most fascinating facts. The history, government, geography, and cultural landscape of Albania is presented in an accessible and engaging way, along with helpful maps, informative sidebars, and fun recipes featuring delicious Albanian delicacies. This exercise in world history and cultural appreciation is also filled with full-color photographs of Albania's natural beauty and its proud citizens.

In High Albania, Victorian anthropologist and travel writer M (Mary) Edith Durham presents a vivid and fascinating insight into the culture, customs, people, and the lands of Northern Albania as it was in the early 20th century.

On November 8, 1943, U.S. Army nurse Agnes Jensen stepped out of a cold rain in Catania, Sicily, into a C-53 transport plane. But she and twelve other nurses never arrived in Bari, Italy, where they were to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals farther from the front lines. A violent storm and pursuit by German Messerschmitts led to a crash landing in a remote part of Albania, leaving the nurses, their team of medics, and the flight crew stranded in Nazi-occupied territory. What followed was a dangerous nine-week game of hide-and-seek with the enemy, a situation President Roosevelt monitored daily. Albanian partisans aided the stranded Americans in the search for a British Intelligence Mission, and the group began a long and hazardous journey to the Adriatic coast. During the following weeks, they crossed Albania's second highest mountain in a blizzard, were strafed by German planes, managed to flee a town moments before it was bombed, and watched helplessly as an attempt to airlift them out was foiled by Nazi forces. Albanian Escape is the suspense-filled story of the only group of Army flight nurses to have spent any length of time in occupied territory during World War II. The nurses and flight crew endured frigid weather, survived on little food, and literally wore out their shoes trekking across the rugged countryside. Thrust into a perilous situation and determined to survive, these women found courage and strength in each other and in the kindness of Albanians and guerrillas who hid them from the Germans.