Mary Edith Durham‘s Through the Lands of the Serb is her first major travel book, based on journeys through Montenegro, Serbia, and what was then known as Old Serbia (Kosovo and Metohija) between 1901 and 1903. It is regarded as a valuable historical source because it portrays the Balkans immediately before the Balkan Wars and the First World War.
Main strengths of the book
- Durham provides firsthand descriptions of everyday life, local customs, folk culture, and the political conditions of the region.
- She devotes particular attention to the medieval Serbian monasteries in Kosovo, including Dečani, the Patriarchate of Peć, and Gračanica, emphasizing their artistic, historical, and religious significance.
- At the time of her travels, these monasteries were under Ottoman rule, and she describes the difficulties of preserving them as well as the situation of the Serbian population.
Historical reliability
The book is an important primary source, but it is not a scholarly monograph. Durham writes as a traveler and observer, so her account reflects her personal experiences and impressions. Most historians consider her descriptions of the landscape, monasteries, and local customs to be reliable, while her political judgments should be read within the historical context of the early twentieth century.
Durnham’s later change of perspective
It is noteworthy that in this early work Durham wrote very favorably about the Serbs and their cultural heritage. After 1908, however, her political views became considerably more sympathetic toward the Albanians, and her later publications sparked significant debate among historians. This shift does not diminish the value of Through the Lands of the Serb as a firsthand account of the region at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Overall assessment
For anyone studying Serbian cultural and ecclesiastical heritage in Kosovo, Through the Lands of the Serb remains one of the most important travel accounts written in English during that period. Its greatest value lies in documenting the condition of the region and its monuments before the profound political changes that followed after 1912.