Croatia is the homeland of the cravat, there are numerous cities in Croatia under the protection of UNESCO, and Croatia has one of the cleanest seas in the world. If you thought that these findings about our homeland were the most interesting, you would be very wrong, because there are many more interesting and unknown stories about Croatia.
Some of them are gathered in the book 'Croatia in 30 stories', authored by Bože Skoka and Zvonimir Frka-Petešić and illustrated by Vedran Klemens, the second edition of which was recently presented in Split.
Thus, by reading this book, we get to know Croatia from another, hitherto unknown, perspective. Between the covers, there is a secret about why Croats are European record-holders in organ donation, yet they hardly tolerate other people's success, which Croatian woman was the muse of the great Pablo Picasso; with which the Croats delighted the French king Louis XIV...
One of the authors, Božo Skoko, tells how he came to write this interesting book:
"As authors, we are extremely honored that the book 'Croatia in 30 stories' was the best-selling non-fiction book in Croatia in 2023 in the category society, politics and history, and that even at the beginning of this summer, it is not falling from the peak of popularity. The fact that the first Croatian and English editions were sold out in record time clearly speaks of the importance of such editions in understanding contemporary Croatian identity, but also the lack of content that speaks in a simple and popular way about Croatian peculiarities, values, contributions and way of life", says Skoko.
Therefore, they decided to enrich the second edition with new facts and interesting facts, in order to make the picture even more complete.
"We started from the question of how to present Croatia and Croats to a complete stranger? How are we similar and how are we different from other European nations? What are the key Croatian peculiarities compared to other European countries? What is the contemporary Croatian identity, and what is the Croatian mentality? What are Croats proud of, and what do they consider their flaws? What constitutes the Croatian way of life, and what did the Croats owe the world? In addition to well-known facts, told in a different way, and many lesser-known interesting facts about Croatia and the Croats, the book also answers more complicated questions such as - should we thank the Venetian Doge for the Croatian coat of arms and popular squares, did Croatian Indians exist, or what did we delight the French king with? Louis XIV, and what inspired Napoleon, as well as many others...", says Skoko.
We witness that after every victory of Croatia in major football competitions, interest in Croatia and Croats around the world skyrockets, so on Google we read questions like those - why are Croats so good at sports, why Croatia has such a strange geographical shape, what language do Croats speak or who is the most popular Croat. At the same time, notes Skoko, the artificial intelligence of global search engines usually offers stereotypical answers, and apart from popular tourist guides and serious scientific literature dedicated to Croatia, unfortunately there are too few popular non-fiction publications that would present Croatia and Croats in an attractive and interesting way and neutralize stereotypes or wrong information. which we often read in the global media.
On the other hand, it is known that almost every European country has a bunch of such publications, which help us get to know them better - for example, the Swedes and their way of life, the Swiss and their symbols, Austria and their love for nature and classical music... It often happens that younger generations know much more interesting things about other countries than about their own homeland...
"All of this motivated us to create this edition, which was published by Ljevak and Večernji list in English for all those around the world who are interested in our country, and in Croatian for the domestic readership," says Skoko. Considering its value, it is not surprising that the presentation of the second edition was an exceptional social event in Split, which brought together numerous famous names from the world of politics, sports, and even entertainment."
For many, this will be a very good read for this summer in Croatia, and for many tourists it will be a more than valuable souvenir, because our country, in addition to numerous well-known facts, has so much hidden in 30 stories, read it and you will be surprised.
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