Praise for the author's previous publications, also published by Routledge.The New Russia: a Handbook of Economic and Political Developments, (Routledge, 2002)'...a valuable source of detailed information and, above all, for Western views of Russia', Economic Journal, 2003A Guide to the Socialist Economies (1990).`Jeffries has produced a useful reference guide that will doubtless become a standard in the field and a valuable addition to academic libraries' - Journal of Comparative Economics, 1991.'... a very welcome addition to the library of publications on the socialist world ... more than a textbook - it is also a reference book and a guide ... Jeffries covers a vast area. It is a truly formidable task to catch up with all the changes that are taking place in these countries, and the author does it with great success', International Affairs, 1990. The Balkans: a Post-Communist History (Routledge, 2007) 'an extremely useful and handy introduction to a complicated but fascinating and important subject. The book provides a wealth of easily digestible information on the post-communist period, but in addition to that it provides a full historical introduction to each state it deals with.' - Richard Crampton, University of Oxford'...a lucid account of the development of a region which for over a century has produced more history than could be consumed locally. Simple without being simplistic, analytical yet not overbearing, enlightening but not scholastic, it is a must read for scholars and laymen alike.' - Petya Nitzova, University of Oklahoma'a highly ambitious work … that covers nine countries, about a dozen different ethnicities, several civil wars and a time period of roughly two millennia … We may be sure that Bideleux and Jeffries have not said the last word on this troubled corner of the world’ Susanne Hillman, University of California San Diego, in Australian Slavonic and East European Review, 2007.