Henry Carey's collection Romania since 1989: Politics, Economics, and Society captures with great precision the complex, contradictory reality of contemporary Romania. Bringing together Romanian, west European, and American authors from fields as diverse as anthropology, political science, economics, law, print and broadcast journalism, social work, and literature, the volume covers vast ground, but with striking detail and scholarship and a common core approach concerned with the nature of Romanian exceptionalism. The essays range widely across the spectrum of post-socialist Romanian events and conditions, from labor and government to environment and social issues. Together they provide perhaps the most comprehensive view of the
continuing, murky, contested reality that is Romania today. The book is a must-read for any scholar of modern Romania, of East-Central Europe, and of the uncertain, troubled times that is post-socialism. -- David A. Kideckel, Central Connecticut State University This is an exceptionally valuable resource on Romania's politics, economics, and society as the emerged from Ceausescu's communism... Essential. CHOICE Leading international scholars provide a fascinating and often disturbing portrait of Romania, South-East-Europe's largest state since the break-up of Yugoslavia. In chapters which blend scholarship with accessibility, they show how little progress has been made in overcoming legacies of dictatorship and misrule. The wealth of detail and quality of insights will make this an excellent sourcebook for students of political change after the Cold War and ought to be taken seriously by policy practitioners increasingly involved with Romania's problems. -- Tom Gallagher, professor of peace studies, Bradford University, Great Britain
