Are there any well-regarded books on Romani history?

by Bilingualbisexual

In reading Isabel Fonseca's "Bury Me Standing", I've come to realise that it isn't exactly the book I was looking for. I browsed the booklist but came up empty-handed, so Askhistorians: are there any well-regarded modern books on Romani history? I realise the difficulty of compiling an accurate history of a people who tend not to keep written records, and doubly so for a group as often maligned and mistreated as the Roma. Any recommendations, scholarly or mainstream, would be appreciated.

Thank you all for your time.

foxeared-asshole

Yes, absolutely!

First I want to recommend the late Ronald Lee's website Kopachi. Ronald Lee was a Canadian Rom and a hugely influential activist and ally to Romni feminists. There are several articles there from well-reguarded Romani activists and scholars including Hedina Tahirovic Sijercic, Alexandra Oprea, and Valeriu Nicolae.

But since you asked specifically for books, I also have several recommendations!

  • "The Pariah Syndrome" & "We are the Romani People" by Ian Hancock are pretty foundational introductions to learning Romani history and culture. "The Pariah Syndrome" is basically THE foundational work in Romani history. It's short but an important starting point.
  • "The Stopping Places" by Damian Bas. This one is more of a personal memoir than an academic monograph, but I find those just as valuable when it comes to Romani history. It talks specifically about the history of Romanichal (a subgroup in the UK).
  • "The Day I am Free/Katitzi" by Katarina Taikon. This is half autobiography/half record of her works. Taikon was a major activist for Roma Rights in Sweden and the author of a children's series with a Romani protagonist.
  • "Black Silence" by Paul Polansky is a collection of oral histories of survivors of the Lety concentration camp. The Bohemian Roma (my family's vitsa) was annihilated by the Holocaust with very few survivors, so any records of Bohemian Roma is rare.
  • "We are the Roma!" by Valeriu Nicolae, short and sweet but Nicolae is such a major figure in the Roma Rights movement that it's important for any collection.