Princes Amongst Men

Weaving historical fact, mythic tales and contemporary voices, Princes Amongst Men recounts a Balkan odyssey in search of the secret history and culture of Europe's greatest musicians - the Roma Gypsies. On his wild and affectionate journey, Garth Cartwright wanders through the ruins of post-Communist Serbia and observes Roma refugees from the Kosovo conflict. He attends a Gypsy wedding in Macedonia, conveys the tragedy of Romania in the aftermath of Ceaucescu, scours Skopje for opium, charts the Euro-Asian beauties so prominent in Bulgaria, almost marries a Gypsy princess in Kocani and witnesses the fiery celebrations that mark Ederlezi, the Night of the Gypsies, in an impoverished Bulgarian Gypsy ghetto. Cartwright?s engagement with Gypsy communities bypasses clich? and overturns prejudice to return with the true story of the Gypsies? Balkan blues.