Life is War

Life is War: Surviving Dictatorship in Communist Albania is a collection of oral histories that guides readers through through the decades (1944-1992) in which everything was controlled by the Communist Party; what work one could do, what food was available, and even who one could marry.


The reader accompanies Shannon, the author and historian, through intimate interviews with six Albanian men and women. We hear how everyday people survived shocking living conditions, political persecution and oppression dependent on ethnicity, political status, gender and sexuality.


This is a thorough and vivid history of lived communism in Albania, charting political and ideological shifts through the experiences of those who survived. Life is War stands as remarkable and profound testimony to the resilience of humanity in the face of unrelenting political terror. An accurate and precise historical work, engagingly rendered from life narratives, it plunges the reader into the difficult emotional truths that are at the core of remembering Albania's communist past. Life is War is a valuable contribution to studies of everyday life under communism and dictatorship. Eloquently written and expertly researched, it will appeal to readers interested in life histories, war, communism, European history and trauma studies.


'Life is War is unparalleled in its redemptive character as far as the victims of Albanian communism are concerned. Through the act of narration this book redeems the stories and lives of its characters, which would have otherwise perished in oblivion.


Blendi Kajsiu, author of A Discourse Analysis of Corruption: Instituting Neoliberalism Against Corruption in Albania, 1998-2005, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Antioquia, Colombia.


'This is a powerful book about the intensity and imagination of story telling. Woodcock's detailed descriptions create a vivid picture of the Albanian landscape, the enduring legacy of dictatorship and hardship in the lives and struggles of people today.'


Carrie Hamilton, Reader in History, University of Roehampton.


'Life is War gives voice to the experiences of Albanians-men, women, Romani, Vlachs among them-who survived Enver Hoxha's notoriously repressive and increasingly isolated regime. The stories Shannon Woodcock chronicles enrich our limited knowledge of everyday life in Albania, and are a welcome addition to social histories and collected memory studies of the communist period in Eastern Europe.'


Gail Kligman, co-author of the award-winning Peasants Under Siege: The Collectivization of Romanian Agriculture, 1949-1962.