Montenegro's instructive potential exceeds this small Balkan nation's size. Montenegro and Montenegrins showcase the type of nationalism common in southeastern Europe in which ethnic and religious identity fuse under the auspices of a nation-state and its religious monopoly. This book broadens knowledge on the nationalism that destroyed Yugoslavia. In addition, the case of Montenegro unveils the struggles over statehood, national identity, and international status of the states emerging out of various South Slavic alliances that kept several ethnic nations together during most of the twentieth century. Kenneth Morrison's excellent book examines the development of Montenegro as an independent nation-state from the last decade of Tito's Yugoslavia, through Milošević’s states to national sovereignty after the breakup with Serbia in 2006. In the introductory segment, Morrison provides an excellent overview “Montenegro's Twentieth Century”—as a necessary prelude to the subsequent analysis that begins with the Yugoslav crisis of the 1980s. The author then analyzes chronologically the changing roles of Montenegro in the Yugoslav breakup and the succeeding forms of statehood with which Montenegro was associated until the 2006 intendance. In two chapters examining Montenegro's ethnic minorities and the public religion of the Orthodox Churches, Morrison provides the relevant perspectives and refreshment of the main narrative on Montenegro's domestic politics. The last two chapters focus on the first five years of independence, examining the political elites’ struggles for social and political stability and Montenegro's balancing between Russian and western influence in the Balkans.

Morrison concludes that the post-Yugoslav independent Montenegro has been developing into a relatively successful project. He puts it cautiously, however, by saying that “despite the often-combative political environment and the lack of executive rotation, Montenegro's achievements have to be acknowledged.” He goes on to argue that “broadly, the country has made significant progress as an independent state, perhaps exceeding the expectations of its supporters and surprising those detractors who questioned the viability of such a small state in the Balkans” (173). Nevertheless, it seems that evaluating state-building in Montenegro as a success—even relative and promising rather than complete—may still be too generous and premature. History of state-building in this part of the Balkans is a history of repeated failures usually accompanied by violence. The incidental peaceful divorce between Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 still does not make Montenegrins and Serbs comparable to the Czechs and Slovaks. Likewise, Montenegro's recent shift from the traditional pro-Russian allegiance (which still remains one of the hallmarks of Montenegrin identity) to the west, would not suffice for appraising Montenegro as determined to stay in the pro-western course. These remarks, however, by no means make this book unsuccessful. In sum, based on extensive and meticulous research, Kenneth Morrison has written an excellent book in contemporary political history of southeastern Europe. Its only shortcoming is an unusually small font that makes reading somewhat uncomfortable.