Noel Malcolm Ordine dei libri (cronologico)

Forbidden Desire is a pioneering study of the history of male-male sex in the whole of Early Modern Europe, including the European colonies and the Ottoman world.

In the late sixteenth century, an influential Albanian named Antonio Bruni authored a significant document about his homeland. Historian Sir Noel Malcolm uses this document as a springboard to delve into the lives of the Bruni family, which included notable figures such as an archbishop of the Balkans, the captain of the papal flagship at the pivotal Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and a high-ranking interpreter in Istanbul, the former Constantinople. The fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 dramatically reshaped the Mediterranean landscape. By Bruni's time, Albania, having been a Venetian province since 1405, was integrated into the Ottoman Empire. Yet, this era was also infused with the vibrancy of the Italian Renaissance. Through the collective biography of the Brunis, Malcolm offers an intimate portrayal of Albania as a crossroads of empires, cultures, and religions. Their multilingual and cosmopolitan lives illuminate the intricate relationships between the Ottoman and Christian worlds, marked by both conflict and interdependence. The result of extensive archival research, this work vividly depicts a dynamic period in European and Ottoman history, challenging conventional notions of their differences and highlighting the exchanges that transformed both East and West.

Kosovo, a 55-mile-long plateau south of Serbia, has historically been viewed as a backwater. A Bulgarian geographer noted its obscurity during WWI, a sentiment that would become ironically relevant in the '90s as both Kosovo and Central Africa witnessed widespread genocide driven by deep-seated ethnic hatreds. Noel Malcolm, a British historian and journalist with extensive writings on the Balkans, offers an overview of Kosovo's cultural divisions in his comprehensive work. For those following the conflict through media coverage, the violent struggle between ethnic Albanians and Serbs may seem perplexing. Malcolm explains that Kosovo is the birthplace of Serbian nationalism; the 1389 defeat of Serbian forces by Turks symbolizes the decline of the Serbian empire and the onset of Turkish dominance in the Balkans. Contemporary Serbian warriors seek to reclaim this land from the Albanians, the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, whose ancestors converted to Islam under Turkish rule. Malcolm’s text reveals that the conflict is less about bloodlines or religion and more about differing views of national origins and history. He concludes that a more rational and humane understanding of Kosovo among ordinary Serbs would benefit all people in the region, including the Serbs themselves.

Bosniens historie fra middelalderen til krigen 1992-93

The years 1992 and 1993 mark the destruction of a unique country with a rich political and cultural history in Europe, where empires and religions converged: Rome, Charlemagne, the Ottomans, and the Austro-Hungarians, alongside Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, and Islam. This complex past has been overshadowed by violence and war, often misrepresented by ignorance and misinformation. In this comprehensive history, Balkan specialist Noel Malcolm chronicles the country from its origins to its tragic demise. The narrative dispels numerous myths surrounding Bosnia's racial, religious, and political history, particularly challenging the notion that the war stemmed from "ancient ethnic hatreds." Instead, it reveals that Bosnia's destruction was driven by external factors, primarily the political maneuvers of Serbian leadership and the misguided interventions of Western politicians. Malcolm effectively debunks historical fallacies that have influenced media portrayals and the actions of Western diplomats. This work not only contextualizes the Bosnian war but also honors the intricate history of a nation whose past—and future—has been nearly obliterated.