Stalinism, that particularly brutal phase of the Communist experience, came to an end in most of Europe with the death of Stalin in 1953. However, in one country - Albania - Stalinism survived virtually unscathed until 1990. The regime that the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha led from 1944 until his death in 1985 was incomparably severe. Such was the reign of terror that no audible voice of opposition or dissent ever arose in the Balkan state and Albania became isolated from the rest of the world and utterly inward-looking.
Three decades after his death, the spectre of Hoxha still lingers over the country, yet many people - inside and outside Albania - know little about the man who ruled the country with an iron fist for so many decades. This book provides the first biography of Hoxha available in English. Using unseen documents and first-hand interviews, journalist Blendi Fevziu pieces together the life of a tyrannical ruler in a biography which will be essential reading for anyone interested in Balkan history and communist studies.
About the Author
Blendi Fevziu is a journalist, based in Tirana. He was the co-founder of the RD (Democratic Renaissance) newspaper and presents the popular TV talk show Opinion.
Industry Reviews
'Blendi Fevziu's work is extraordinary. Written like a crime novel, based on unparalleled access to once closed Albanian archives, the book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand communist Europe and how dictatorships get set up and eventually survive. Fevziu succeeds brilliantly in capturing the horrors of Hoxha's 41 years in power and brings to life many of the voices he silenced. Not only that, given the Hoxha legacy, Fevziu helps us better understand why today's Albania's path to democracy is so difficult. This biography is a major achievement.' - Robert C. Austin, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; 'Based on archival, oral, and published sources, Blendi Fevziu's Enver Hoxha provides a fascinating, compelling and realistic account of the life and times of Albania's unremittingly Stalinist dictator and the country he ruled with an iron hand for four decades. This book is a masterful combination of biography and history.' - Nicholas C. Pano, Professor Emeritus of History, Western Illinois University; Fevziu's book doesn't let this injustice stand. His fastidious research, helped by the opening of the previously sealed Communist archives, lays out the horrors of the man and his regime for all to see. His book is also important in another way: it provides a voice to the dead, the disappeared, the exiled, and the purged, who are brought to life in a number of absorbing vignettes throughout the book. Giving them a voice and a story, something which Hoxha desperately tried to deny them, is perhaps Fevziu's most profound achievement. - https://opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/alex-sakalis/enver-hoxha-lunatic-who-took-over-asylum, 'gripping' - Simon Sebag Montefiore, 'To discover what was really going on in ruling party circles under Hoxha's sway you must turn to Blendi Fevziu's well-researched biography. Whether or not he was a philanderer, it provides copious ammunition to prove Hoxha was a tyrant.' - Jonathan Steele, The Guardian, 'highly informative and well-researched' - Robert Carver, The Tablet, 'Fevziu's[...]fastidious research, helped by the opening of the previously sealed Communist archives, lays out the horrors of the man and his regime for all to see. His book is also important in another way: it provides a voice to the dead, the disappeared, the exiled, and the purged, who are brought to life in a number of absorbing vignettes throughout the book. Giving them a voice and a story, something which Hoxha desperately tried to deny them, is perhaps Fevziu's most profound achievement.' - Alex Sakalis, OpenDemocracy, 'I found particularly captivating the chapters of the book in which Hoxha is shown more as a real life person...fills a gap regarding communist Albania and provides fresh encouragement for those studying the history and current political developments of the country. Fortunately, this book goes beyond the narrative of bringing yet one more exotic country to modern political science...a very useful read' - Simeon Mitropolitski, LSE Review of Books, 'Blendi Fevziu's book is so engagingly written. His style and lucidity keep us riveted on the unfolding story...As well as a fascinating read, it shows the danger of absolute power...[Fevziu's account] brilliantly brings this era to life...Excellently translated by Majlinda Nishku this is an absorbing and captivating read.' - Morelle Smith, Scottish Review, 'a fascinating portrait...Blendi Fevziu's new account is so welcome...It is an extraordinary tale - how one man captured a country and held it prisoner for the best part of half-a-century - and it is well told.' - Marcus Tanner, Balkan Insight
