Ulf Brunnbauer, University of Regensburg, author of Globalizing Southeast Europe:
The Cold War from the Margins is an excellent book that breaks new ground. Dragostinova provides previously unknown information and fresh analysis for the better understanding of the development of state socialism, especially in Bulgaria; and also makes an important contribution to the growing literature on the global entanglement of state socialist countries.
Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University, author of Stalin and the Fate of Europe:
Dragostinova explores the intriguing cultural history of Bulgaria during... the "long 1970s." Culture, represented by the mysterious figure of Liudmila Zhivkova, had crucial domestic and international dimensions. Particularly fascinating and revealing are the author's explorations of Bulgaria's involvements in India, Mexico, and Nigeria.
Kristen Ghodsee, University of Pennsylvania, author of Second World, Second Sex:
Dragostinova's thoughtful and accessible book tells a fascinating story about the importance of cultural diplomacy and international soft power politics. It will radically reshape the way historians and anthropologists understand the role of small states during the Cold War.
This fine book meets all its stated goals and offers more. At its simplest, it narrates the story of national branding through culture (aptly defined as cultural extravaganza), when tiny Bulgaria organized 38,854 cultural events across the world between 1977 and 1981 to highlight its history and achievements, coinciding with the 1,300th anniversary of the state's creation.
Dragostinova's vibrant account of Bulgarian cultural initiatives in the long 1970s is driven by a method-as-argument she calls a "pericentric approach."
Theodora K. Dragostinova account indicates that Bulgaria's case is critical for understanding simultaneously the actorness and the historical experience of small states on the margins in playing on the world stage.
In a remarkable new book, Theodora Dragostinova offers a thought-provoking account of the efforts of a small state to attain global cultural stature during the final decades of the Cold War.This provocative argument forces us to rethink our standard conceptualizations of power hierarchies during the Cold War.
In six detailed chapters, the author presents a wealth of information meant to reveal the ability of that small Balkan state to chart an active international agenda at a time when small states dominated discussions of the new world order.
There are major contributions that this study brings to the history of the Cold War, Eastern Europe, and even world history.
It is not possible to do justice to such a rich book in a review of this length. Theodosia K. Dragostinova has written an excellent book, full of concrete examples and pertinent comments, which is a valuable contribution to the comparative history of the Cultural Cold War. It is sophisticated, theoretically aware, and scholarly.