The first volume in a series to be brought out by the middle of 2007 in altogether four books. The series is a daring undertaking of CEU Press, presenting the most important texts that triggered and shaped the processes of nation-building in the many countries of Central and Southeast Europe. The project brought together scholars from Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. The editors have created a new interpretative synthesis that challenges the self-centered and "isolationist" historical narratives and educational canons prevalent in the region, in the spirit of of "coming to terms with the past. " The main aim of the venture is to confront 'mainstream' and seemingly successful national discourses with each other, thus creating a space for analyzing those narratives of identity which became institutionalized as "national canons. " The series will broaden the field of possible comparisons of the respective national cultures. Each text is accompanied by a presentation of the author, and by an analysis of the context in which the respective text was born.