Looking at Bulgaria

Prazdny, Bronja. Looking at Bulgaria. 2008. 48p. ISBN 1-881508-85-4. Available at 949.9 PRA on the library shelves.

Located next to the Black Sea on the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria has always been at the crossroads of people and commerce. An empire in its own right in the Middle Ages, Bulgaria was in turn conquered and became a part of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish rule lasted for five centuries until the Bulgars were able to free themselves with the help of Russia. On the German side during World War I and World War II, Bulgaria then fell in the Communist orbit of the Soviet Union and remained there until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Now a member of the European Union, Bulgaria still struggles to shake off decades of economic mismanagement under Communist rule.

This book discusses the history of Bulgaria, as well as its peoples and cultures, major towns and cities, its education system, its cuisine, transportation, economy, nature, tourism, and the challenges that face Bulgaria in the 21st century.