✨ Featured Offer
Used, Very Good
$23.85
List Price: $42.00
🚚
See all 5 offers from $15.06 FREE standard delivery by: 05 Apr 2026
Overview
"Gypsies" have lived among Europeans since the Middle Ages. Yet Roms still seem exotic to Westerners, who often rely on fictional depictions for what they know, or think they know, about this much-misunderstood people. The Romani Gypsies challenges stereotypes that have long been the unwelcome travel companions of this community in Europe and the New World. Yaron Matras offers a perspective-changing account of who the Roms are, how they live today, and how they have survived over centuries.
Descendants of Indian migrants, Roms began moving into western Europe in the 1300s, refugees of a collapsing Byzantine Empire. By the 1500s they had spread throughout Europe, working as itinerant smiths and toolmakers, healers and entertainers, and would soon reach the Americas. Often described as Egyptian--hence the name Gypsies--they were ostracized as beggars, vilified as criminals, respected as artisans, and idealized as free spirits. They have been both enslaved and protected, forced to settle down and forcibly expelled, in a pattern of manipulation and persecution that persists in our own time.
Matras draws on decades of firsthand research into Romani life to explain the organization of Romani society, its shared language, history, and traditions, as well as differences among widely dispersed Romani groups. He also details the present-day dilemmas surrounding the struggle of Roms for political recognition in European countries which are, by turns, either ambivalent or openly hostile.
Descendants of Indian migrants, Roms began moving into western Europe in the 1300s, refugees of a collapsing Byzantine Empire. By the 1500s they had spread throughout Europe, working as itinerant smiths and toolmakers, healers and entertainers, and would soon reach the Americas. Often described as Egyptian--hence the name Gypsies--they were ostracized as beggars, vilified as criminals, respected as artisans, and idealized as free spirits. They have been both enslaved and protected, forced to settle down and forcibly expelled, in a pattern of manipulation and persecution that persists in our own time.
Matras draws on decades of firsthand research into Romani life to explain the organization of Romani society, its shared language, history, and traditions, as well as differences among widely dispersed Romani groups. He also details the present-day dilemmas surrounding the struggle of Roms for political recognition in European countries which are, by turns, either ambivalent or openly hostile.
| ISBN-13 | 9780674368385 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 067436838X |
| Weight | 1.10 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 5.50 x 1.16 x 8.25 In |
| List Price | $42.00 |
| Edition | 1st Edition |
| Format | Hardcover |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Pages | 336 pages |
| Publisher | Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press |
| Published On | 2015-01-06 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Book is considered to be in good or better condition. The actual cover image may not match the sto...
Free delivery by: 05 Apr 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
Evergreen Goodwill
Seattle, WA, USA
Free delivery by: 05 Apr 2026
✨ Used, Very Good
Seller details
Books From California
Simi Valley, CA, USA
Very Clean Copy-Over 500, 000 Internet Orders Filled.
Free delivery by: 05 Apr 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
SurplusTextSeller
Columbia, MO, USA
Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! May not include working access code. Will not include dust j...
Free delivery by: 05 Apr 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
BookScene
Hull, MA, USA
8vo 7.75-9.75'' tall. Hardcover. Book Condition: Near Fine. Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Belknap Pre...
Free delivery by: 05 Apr 2026