Cities of Dust and Mud

Name: Cities of Dust and Mud
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ISBN: 9781503646803

Urbanism and Bourgeois Fantasy in the Balkans, 1820-1920

Miloš Jovanović

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English

Stanford University Press
09 June 2026

General & world history; European history; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Human geography

Series: Stanford Studies on Central and Eastern Europe

This book explores the social costs of urban change and the limits of modernity through a comparative study of two Balkan cities, Belgrade and Sofia. Between 1820 and 1920, both cities grew from small Ottoman towns into large national capitals, as their bourgeois elites envisioned new, urban societies on the European borderlands. This book traces the lofty ambitions and dire consequences of this project: situated on the periphery of global capital flows, elite-led attempts at remaking Balkan capitals into European cities relied on dispossession, brutal labor control, and real estate speculation, while failing to achieve their goals of exponential growth.

Drawing on a rich array of archival sources, Miloš Jovanović considers the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Belgrade, municipal corruption in Sofia, anxieties over sex work and the regulation of intimacy, and attempts at creating docile workers through policing and prisons. Bringing working people to the forefront, he shows how the modernity envisioned by elites failed to transform their lives for the better, and how urban residents developed a nostalgia for the Ottoman city as a critique of their contemporary moment. Going beyond the limits of national frameworks, this book transforms our understanding of Balkan history, national modernization, and the role of fantasy in capitalist societies, offering keen insights for today's era of growing inequality.

By: Miloš Jovanović
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781503646803
ISBN 10: 1503646807
Series: Stanford Studies on Central and Eastern Europe
Pages: 286
Publication Date: 09 June 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Miloš Jovanović is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is co-editor of Sharpening the Haze: Visual Essays on Imperial History and Memory (2020).

Reviews for Cities of Dust and Mud: Urbanism and Bourgeois Fantasy in the Balkans, 1820-1920

""Jovanovic has written an exceptional book. Unmasking the 'fantasies' of progress of Balkan bourgeois elites, the author highlights the social costs of urban transformation and capitalist modernity with rigor, creativity, and compassion. A highly original take on post-imperial transitions.""--Theodora Dragostinova, The Ohio State University ""Cities of Dust and Mud offers a bold rethinking of the dark side of urban modernity through the intertwined histories of Belgrade and Sofia in the long nineteenth century. Provocative and deeply original, the book challenges readers to confront the realities of how modern cities are imagined and created.""--Emily Greble, Vanderbilt University