The Promotion of the book "Automobiles and the Karageorgevich Dinasty 1908-1941"

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Belgrade, May 15, 2014.

The book of Miroslav Milutinović "Automobiles and the Karageorgevich Dynasty" was presented in the Archives of Yugoslavia on Thursday, May 15, 2014. Beside the author who talked about the book, the Acting Director of the Archives of Yugoslavia Miladin Milošević, Petar Arbutina, editor, Dragomir Acović Chairman of the Crown Cabinet and Nebojša Đorđević, President of the Association of the Motoring Historians, talked about the book as well.

HRH Crown Prince Alexander II was present as a guest. The exhibition was accompanied by the photos from the book. Miladin Milošević the Acting Director of the Archives of Yugoslavia reminded of the author’s dedicated research that is evidenced by no everyday data collected in the book. Data that are very often of no importance to the historians became material for Milutinović’s monograph that highlights the interesting part of the national past. Reading this book the readers will have both pleasure to get to know Dynasty Karađorđević and the history of motoring in Serbia.

Arbutina disclosed that although he is not expert for automobiles, this publication interested him: "There is a great history that marks great invents, important figures and their impact on global movements, but there is also a small history that deals with personal interests, everyday needs and life of the people- this book reveals just that – How did the members of the Royal family Karađorđević by picking up cars influenced the technological progress in the country, what was their taste and their interests, he said, mentioning that this research witnesses that Serbia kept pace with the Europe of that time.

Acovic stressed that the book is the result of the longtime work, great passion and that it presents pioneering work, since there is no book published dealing with this subject that made the work harder for the author. "This book is for reading, looking it, this book makes you think” he said.

Đorđević mentioned that during his work on the book the author published over 200 articles and that more than half photos from the book were published for the first time and in that way became accessible to the public. He stated that: "There is adequate balance between story and technical details and photos in the book".

The author thanked reviewers Professor Dragoljub Živojinović and Professor Jovan Todorović who helped him with their knowledge so that the book apart from being publicist writing has also scientific character. He thanked also employees of the Archives and Official Gazette expressing his satisfaction over the fact that his longtime research provided precise data regarding every car, which is extremely interesting for the history of motoring in Serbia.

In addition to the exclusivity of the material presented in the book, it is important to note it is well supported by facts, which are the result of the author’s dedicated research. This is evidenced by the abundance of data and a broad background documentation containing quotes from hundreds of sources used.

The book deals with an important part of automobile history in Serbia from 1908 to 1941. Readers will find a number of interesting and little known facts about the most popular cars of that era, which thanks to some members of the Karađorđević dynasty could be found on our streets.