Bury me standing : the Gypsies and their journey
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

After the revolutions of 1989, the author lived and traveled with the Gypsies of Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the former Yugoslavia, Romainia, and Albania -- listening to their stories and recording their attempts to become something more than despised outsiders. In this book, alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals -- the poet, the politician, the child prostitute- - are vivid insights into the wit, language, wisdom, and taboos of the Roma. The author also traces their long-ago exodus out of India and their history of relentless persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania; massacred by the Nazis in what the Roma call "the Devouring"; forcibly assimilated by the communist regime; and, most recently, evicted from their settlements by nationalistic mobs in the new "democracies" of the East, and under violent attack in the Western countries to which many have fled.

A revealing portrait of a disappearing culture discusses the lives and society of the "Roma" and the repression that the gypsies have faced throughout history up to the present day, discussing their traditions, folklore, and social institutions.