During the 19th century the Balkan countries became the subject of a rather romantic fascination for the public at large. This vision of the area has been created in large measure by the writing of women travelers such as those represented in this volume. The achievements of these women are quite remarkable: in many cases their travels were adventurous, and even dangerous, reaching into parts of the countryside which were remote and hardly known to outsiders. Not only as travelers but also in the fields of medical and military service, scholarship and education, journalism and literature, did these women contribute in very significant ways to the expansion of women's horizons and to the attempt to gain greater freedom for women in society in general.
