The Battle of Kosovo

Book excerpt: Presents a translation of a cycle of heroic ballads considered the finest work of Serbian folk poetry. Commemorating the Serbian Empire's defeat at the hands of the Turks in the late 14th century, these poems and fragments have been known for centuries in Eastern Europe. First published in 1987, this translation is now reprinted because of its intrinsic merits and because the recent crisis in Kosovo compels the world to understand the nature of the ancient conflicts and passions that fuel it. This reprint includes a new afterword explaining the importance of this poetry in the context of NATO's first military action against a sovereign nation. The translators are professors of English and mathematics at the University of Notre Dame. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR