178 - William Forsyth: The Slavonic Provinces south of the Danube. London, 1876

William Forsyth: The Slavonic Provinces south of the Danube. London, 1876 First edition, in 8vo, contemporary burgundy hard covers, text clean and bright, complete 194p., [32] one map,overall in very good plus condition. Forsyth approached the Balkans with the analytical mind of a lawyer and a statesman. He provides a contemporary account of the brutal suppression of the Bulgarian revolts by Ottoman irregulars, the famous Bashi-bazouks, an event that shocked the British public and turned many against the Ottomans. Forsyth argued that the Ottoman Empire had failed its legal and moral obligations to its Christian subjects. He advocated for the autonomy of Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, which he saw as the only way to prevent a total European war. He provides a very detailed account of the mainly Slavonic provinces south of the Danube, clearly mentioning that although the big population Christian mass is of Slavic descent, the Greeks completely control the trade and are omnipresent in all major cities and in the coastline.