BESSARABIA: Russia and Romania on the Black Sea

“This book has grown out of my endeavors to collect material useful for my lectures on the historical backgrounds of European problems. Nowhere could I find any comprehensive and reasonably impartial discussion of Bessarabia. I ploughed through thousands of pages of Romanian and Russian books and pamphlets, and paid two extended visits to the province, the latter (in 1925) including automobile trips of several hundred miles. The accumulated material seemed to me of sufficient general interest and value to be submitted to the public. Every historical student will appreciate the difficulty of the task. Material is still scanty for some periods and aspects of the problem, abundant for others; thus the treatment is bound to be unequal. Nor is it possible to achieve impartiality; my sympathies are strong for the inarticulate Bessarabian peasant, a sturdy representative of the Romanian race, against bureaucracies and exploiters, Russian or Romanian; but I have tried to give a just presentation of all essential factors involved.”