Concise History of the World

Forum
National Geographic Society
1145 17th St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 Oct. 5, 2005

Dear Editor:

I am writing to you in regard to the introduction of the National Geographic's "Concise History of the World". If it is as "concise" and correct as your description of former Yugoslavia in the February 2000 issue of the National Geographic magazine, in which on the map under the heading "Serbs" it said that Serbs settled in the seventh century into what is now Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia .. you will be making the same mistake again, besides a number of other mistakes that occurred in that article. You could have simply looked up under "Slavs" in the Encyclopedia Britannica, ed. 1970, vol. 20, which correctly states that "On the territory of modern Yugoslavia the first Slavic kingdom was Croatia". When Croatians voiced their complaints at that time, the truth was ignored by answering that the National Geographic stands by its experts. Wonder who those "experts" are?

Facts are, the Croatians, not Serbs, settled in the seventh century in the area that is still to this day Croatia and was a kingdom from the tenth to the twelfth century. Only upon the death of the heirless last king did Croatia enter a "Personal Union" with the king of Hungary. Unfortunately things went
downhill ever since for Croatia, becoming ruled by other nations, until it finally became independent again in 1991.

Sincerely,

Hilda M. Foley

Hilda M Foley
American Croatian Assn. of So. California
13272 Orange Knoll
North Tustin, CA 92705
714 832-0289