STATE BUILDERS FROM THE STEPPE

If you have spent in Bulgaria more than a Bansko ski weekend or a binge drinking tour of Sunny Beach, you have probably become familiar with a number of concepts, events and personalities firmly embedded in the Bulgarian national consciousness. The pagan ruler drinking wine from the severed head of a Byzantine enemy he'd just had killed is one. The creation of the alphabet that you still struggle to remember is another. The idea of lost Bulgarian might, when the country experienced its Golden Age and "spread on three seas" is as good as the previous two. The chilling story of a defeated Bulgarian army whose soldiers were blinded and only one in a hundred was spared an eye to lead the rest home sounds as if lifted from a G. R. R. Martin novel…

All of these, and much more, happened during the first period of the existence of the Bulgarian state. It is framed by the arrival of the early Bulgarians in the lands south of the Danube in the late 7th century and the subjugation of their state by Byzantium in the early 11th century. Different historians have different names for it, all beginning with a "first": First Bulgarian State, First Bulgarian Kingdom, First Bulgarian Empire.

Eric D. Halsey, the author of a new book in English dedicated to this part of Bulgaria's history, has opted for the latter. His State Builders From the Steppe. A History of the First Bulgarian Empirep (2025) has been long overdue. The latest proper book in English about this chunk of Europe's story was published in... 1930: Steven Runciman's History of the First Bulgarian Empire.

Almost a century later, Eric D. Halsey has written a book designed for the people of the digital world: captivating, informative and focused on the crucial details. A historian by education and the creator of the Bulgarian History Podcast, which started in 2013, he is well aware of how to grab the reader's attention, how to explain somewhat obscure and complex historical processes such as the formation of what would become the Bulgarian nation, and how to keep an eye on the curious detail.

Halsey is also aware of the hidden dangers of discussing sensitive and contested issues that have divided history professionals and enthusiasts in Bulgaria for decades – for example exactly who did what in Bulgarian nation building, with different and often acrimonious sides rooting for the Thracians, the Slavs and the early Bulgarians, as if in a football game. In navigating these minefields, he has chosen a wise middle ground based on established facts and the latest research provided by professional historians, archaeologists and scientists.

Even without sensationalism, early medieval Bulgarian history is astonishing: a tale of migration, cultural exchanges, wars, coups and cruelties, of saints and cunning politicians, scheming queens and quarrelling princelings. With State Builders From the Steppe you can explore it in all the gory and salacious details. Along with these, and with much more serious issues such as medieval geopolitics and the never-ending game of cat and mouse between Bulgaria and Byzantium, you will find yourself immersed in a long-gone past that still reverberates in the present.  

You can find State Builders From the Steppe. A History of the First Bulgarian Empire by Eric D. Halsey (ISBN: 978-619-7814-11-8) on Amazon and in Mahala Independent Bookstore in Sofia