Cold War from the Margins

Theodora K. Dragostinova is Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University. She is coeditor of Beyond Mosque, Church, and State and author of Between Two Motherlands. Follow her on X @theodora_dragos.

• Introduction: Bulgaria on the Global Cultural Scene of the 1970s1. The Contradictions of Developed Socialism2. Goodwill between Neighbors3. Culture as a Way of Life4. Forging a Diaspora5. Like a Grand World Civilization6. Culture under Special ConditionsEpilogue: The Socialist Past Today

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.(Eurasian Geography and Economics) There are major contributions that this study brings to the history of the Cold War, Eastern Europe, and even world history.(H-Net Reviews) 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.(Choice) 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.(The Middle Ground Journal) 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.(Ab Imperio) Dragostinova's vibrant account of Bulgarian cultural initiatives in the long 1970s is driven by a method-as-argument she calls a "pericentric approach."(Ab Imperio) 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.(Austrian History Yearbook)