This comprehensive volume recounts Croatia's development from the early Middle Ages to the present day. Unlike most Western histories of the region, which tend to neglect the concurrent evolution of Croatia's constituent parts, it shows instead that Croatia developed gradually and organically. Maga' pays particular attention to the historical turning points at which a state seemingly marked for extinction managed to bounce back. She also observes that the ties that bound Croatia to other states for centuries have contributed to the state's vitality, with a complex web of Slav, Croat, Dalmatian, Slavonian, Serb, Jewish, Italian, Yugoslav and other identities emerging as part of an ongoing social and political dialogue, which at times has included open strife.