King Zog of Albania : Europe's self-made Muslim king / Jason Hunter Tomes.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Tomes, Jason.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Zog I, King of the Albanians, 1895-1961.
• Nationalism--Albania.
• Nationalism.
• History.
• Civilization.
• Kings and rulers.
• Albania.
• Albania--Kings and rulers--Biography.
• Albania--Civilization--20th century.
• Albania--History--1912-1944--Biography.

Genre:

• Biographies.

Physical Description:

vii, 312 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Other Title:

King Zog of Albania : Europe's self-made Muslim monarch

Place of Publication:

Washington Square, N.Y. : New York University Press, 2004.

Summary:

• Shortly before 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 1, 1928, Europe gained a new kingdom and its only Muslim king: 32 year old Zog I of the Albanians. Few foreign journalists were present in the Parliament House in Tirana to hear him swear his oath on the Koran and the Bible, yet the birth of the Kingdom of Albania -- a native monarchy, not an alien imposition -- did not go unnoticed abroad. The strangeness of his name saw to that. King Zog was a curiosity, and so he has remained: the most unusual European monarch of the twentieth century, a man entirely without royal connections who created his own kingdom. By contemporaries, he was variously labelled "the last ruler of romance," "an appalling gangster," "the modern Napoleon," "the finest patriot," and "frankly a cad." Even today his reputation is disputed, but Zog was undeniably one of the foremost figures in Albanian history. Though notorious for cutthroat political intrigue, he promised to bring order and progress to a land that had long known little of either. "It was I who made Albania," he claimed.
• Zog's reign ended in 1939; Italian Fascists forced him into exile and post-war Stalinists kept him there despite his best efforts to return. In this first full biography, Jason Tomes explores the reality behind the man described in The Times as "the bizarre King Zog" and shows him to have been the product of a unique time and place. People who live in secure, stable countries are invited to set aside their assumptions about modern European monarchy and meet a king who fired back at assassins and paid his bills with gold bullion.

Contents:

• The Kingdom of Albania vii
• The House of Zogu viii
• 1 Prologue: An Audience 1
• Ahmed Bey Zogolli 1895-1922
• 2 The Star of Mati 6
• 3 Young Ahmed 14
• 4 Prince Wilhelm's Loyal Subject 22
• 5 Powers and Puppets 27
• 6 Colonel Zogolli 31
• 7 Minister of the Interior 37
• 8 His First Coup 44
• 9 Surviving 49
• Ahmed Zogu 1922-28
• 10 Zogu, PM 54
• 11 Down and Out 60
• 12 Fan Noli 66
• 13 'The Triumph of Legality' 71
• 14 Lira Imperialism 78
• 15 Avanti Italia! 83
• 16 The Breach with Belgrade 89
• 17 On the Steps of the Throne 95
• King Zog 1928-39
• 18 His Majesty 100
• 19 King and Capital 105
• 20 Inside the Compound 112
• 21 Zog and the Zogists 120
• 22 The Inspectors-General 127
• 23 Royal Family 134
• 24 The Public Face of the Regime 145
• 25 A Fragile Stability 152
• 26 Slow Progress 158
• 27 Debtor and Creditor 165
• 28 Hard Times 171
• 29 Ill Winds 176
• 30 Young Men and Old Men 182
• 31 Seeking a Queen 188
• 32 Geraldine 196
• 33 A National Event 201
• 34 Borrowed Time 207
• 35 Into the Vortex 215
• 36 Holy Week 222
• 37 Good Friday 229
• 38 A Reckoning 233
• Ex-King Zog 1939-61
• 39 Refugees 240
• 40 In London at War 247
• 41 A Lack of Recognition 252
• 42 Twelve Hundred Miles Away 260
• 43 At the Court of King Farouk 268
• 44 Anglo-American Intrigues 273
• 45 Riviera Recluse 280.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 298-303) and index.

ISBN:

0814782833

OCLC:

54906511