Reviews (3)

Everyday life in hell
Until I happened on this book, I didn't know that I was interested in what it was like to bea Serb while NATO was bombing Serbia (and Milosevic's troops were slaughtering Albanians in Kosovo). As much as Tesanovic despised what Milosovich and other Serbian nationalists were doing (in her name), she was also outraged by the casual acceptance of "collateral damage," that is, the destruction of civilian targets (including one that counted: the PRC embassy in Belgrade) and killing of civilians by carefully targeted NATO (US) bombs. Not too different from other war diaries I have read
This story is not much different from similar diaries andaccounts I have read about other peoples pacifist accounts inconflicts such as in Korea, Indo-China and Lebanon. The same pacifistattitudes and vibes filter through. Reading Tim Judah's (a prolificwriter of anti-Serb texts) introduction was enough for me to knowwhere this book was heading.

An important human testimony
This is the best of the Belgrade Internet diaries, by a Serbian feminist and peace activist who was at Belgrade ground zero during this very interesting and very unfortunate conflict. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Belgrade    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Bombing, Aerial    4. Civil War, 1998-1999    5. Current Affairs    6. Diaries    7. History    8. International    9. Journalists    10. Kosovo (Serbia)    11. Political    12. Serbia    13. Sociology    14. Tesanovic, Jasmina    15. Women's Studies - General    16. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    18. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia    19. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (1)

Great recount of history....
The book, The Fall of Milosevic, by Dragan Bujosevic and Ivan Radovanovic describes the two hours of the afternoon on October 5, 2000, when the hold on power that Slobodan Milosevic and his regime of 13 years had in Yugoslavia, fell to the ground.Inside the pages you get a detailed look at what exactly happened on all sides of the conflict those two hours.The book focuses on how the police, miners, protestors and citizens united peacefully to overthrow Milosevic and his corrupt cronies.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 1941-2006    2. 1992-2003    3. Coups d'etat    4. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    5. Eastern Europe - General    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Miloéseviâc, Slobodan,    10. Political Ideologies - Democracy    11. Politics and government    12. Serbia    13. Yugoslavia    14. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    15. Political Science / Democracy    16. Revolutions & coups    17. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (1)

A diplomatic roller-coaster ride
I've read a lot of books on American diplomacy and this is one of the best.Norris tells the story of how the US engineered the end of the Kosovo war 7 years ago, bringing the Russians and Europeans along to end Slobodan Milosevic's violent repression.It's rare for a book on diplomacy to be a page-turner, but this is one.Written with crispness and flair, it brings the personalities and events of this drama to life, taking readers from tense meetings inside the Oval Office, to the bombing runs of NATO planes, to showdowns inside the Kremlin.From the perspective of today -- when many around the world are questioning America's role in world -- it offers many valuable lessons about the importance of American diplomacy and strong leadership.It is also about a foreign policy triumph.With the final status of Kosovo again in the news, this book is a vital resource for anyone who wants to understand the stakes there.But most important, it will be a fun read for anyone who is just interested in a compelling, well-told story. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Armed Forces    2. Bombing, Aerial    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. International Relations - General    7. Kosovo (Serbia)    8. Military    9. Military - General    10. Modern - 20th Century    11. North Atlantic Treaty Organiza    12. Operation Allied Force, 1999    13. Serbia    14. Serbia and Montenegro    15. Civil war    16. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Political Science / International Relations    18. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (3)

Mountain Wreath
This is one of the greatest works of Serbian Literature. The best prouf is that Goethe learned Serbian just to read this book in original Serbian languange. It describes how Monte Negro fought against Turks and how some of them converted to Islam. By this he describes and explains one greater image of all others Serbs who converted to Islam, mainly in Bosnia, and how this problem caused and still causes many problems. He also goes deep into the history to describe Serbian history so a reader can understand the present. This book is also ful of verses which have deep menaing which can be applied on everyday life. The verses dont rhime but they have deep menainig which makes this book great. The Mountain Wreath
"THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW THE HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT"! The best book of Montenegro
This is certanly the best book written by a Montenegrin which gives us so much information about Montenegrin history and Montenegrins. Montenegrins, people from the mountains, with their language, religion and brave hearts were protecting their name, their country MONTENEGRO, from islamic ottoman Turks. Some of the Montenegrins were converted to Islam and this book is writing about them being converted back again to orthodox christianity or being killed if they refused. Very dramatic book which is deep in heart of every MONTENEGRIN.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Historical - General   

Subjects:  1. History / Europe / General    2. Istria,Dalmatia,Montenegro,description,Europe,RHR   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    2. Europe - Baltic States    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Serbia   

Reviews (7)

Can't Argue With Facts
(...).I had always towed the party line about the evil Serbs and their misdeeds, but have changed my tune after reading this enlightening, if disturbing book.Some may accuse Chomsky of being an apologist for Serb atrocities, but it is clear after reading this text that all sides, most notably NATO, were engaged in quite troublesome behavior that cost many thousands of lives.I heard Bill O' Reilly dismiss Chomsky as a "revisionist," and it is sadly interesting that most critics of this and similar works simply stick a "communist", "liberal", or "revisionist" label on the author without ever addressing the points made within the work.If you are looking for a wealth of facts on deceitful and imperialist American policy in Serbia/Yugoslavia and Indonesia/East Timor, I doubt if a better source could be found.

Odious comparisons
Here Chomsky compares and contrasts the responses of western governments (specifically, those of Clinton's USA and Blair's Britain) to two instances of "ethnic cleansing", both of which received extensive media attention at the end of the millennium. In Kosovo, there was NATO intervention, a 78-day bombing campaign, and a much-publicised war crimes tribunal; in East Timor, at the very most, a few regretful shakes of the head and perhaps the suspicion that we are not, as yet, quite living up to our high ideals of truth, justice and liberty. Chomsky collates some of the facts underlying this apparent irony and shows that, as usual, the paradox has a rather simple solution. For example: (1) The indictment against Milosevic confines itself largely to crimes committed after the bombing began; it seems logical to assume that (a) "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo was not a major motivation for the bombing, and (b) any crimes committed before the bombing are not a major concern of our new generation of moral crusaders. Nevertheless, on the grounds that they sanctioned and participated in "ethnic cleansing", Milosevic and his cronies have been routinely portrayed as the worst enemies of human life and moral decency since Adolf Hitler. (2) The 1999 massacre in East Timor (much advertised in advance as the inevitable consequence if a referendum concerning independence from Indonesia should go the wrong way) was the latest episode in an extremely well-documented record of slaughter dating from the Indonesian invasion of 1975. All the atrocities, including the accession to power of the Indonesian leader Suharto in 1965, with its attendant third of a million casualties, were carried out with western backing and with US armament and training. The solution to that paradox, then, is obvious: the west has, as is traditional, no problem with genocide just so long as it's done by the right people. Chomsky is adept at drawing out the salient points (e.g. the timing of the Serbian war crimes indictment noted above) from voluminous and often skewed information; and, as befits a scientist, his sources of evidence are painstakingly documented. The focus on two contrasted sets of events throws the Standards of the West into sharp and unpleasant perspective.

Never more relevant!
Chomsky uses the NATO bombing of Milosevic as a framework for analyzing the direction of Western foreign policy, specifically in East Timor. While NATO (remember, not UN) forces were destroying non-military targets and infrastructure in the name of a "just cause", US sponsored paramilitaries were rampaging through E Timor slaughtering thousands. It is the awareness of this hypocrisy (as well as the well documented FACT that NATO bombing would worsen the humanitarian crisis it was designed to alleviate) that forms the framework for his analysis. With recent events in the world (easy to predict for those of us who actually know our own foreign policy, our history, and the history of the regions and people in question) Chomsky is one of the few, non PC, intellectuals who are willing to actually hold their own nation to the standards that we hold other nations to. Not surprisingly, CNN, Fox, and the other worthless entertainment disseminators masquerading as flag-waving "news" outlets refuse to cover the obvious issues raised by Chomsky (or Zinn, Fisk, Pilger, Nader, Roy, Herman, Said; the list is much to long to list). Oh well, its just the bodies and misery of the "evildoers" (read: Bush Daddy's old friends who no longer know their place) that are piling up in the name of corporate US hegemony. Also, beware of negative reviews like the one above (nothing wrong with negative reviews, but it woiuld be nice if they would at least attempt to deal with and refute Chomsky's thesis) that quote passages completely out of context. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1989-    2. 1991-    3. Autonomy and independence move    4. Civil War, 1998-1999    5. Current Affairs    6. East Timor    7. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    8. Foreign Relations 1990-    9. History    10. History & Theory - General    11. International    12. International Relations - General    13. Kosovo (Serbia)    14. Political Discontent And Violence    15. Politics - Current Events    16. Politics / Current Events    17. Politics/International Relations    18. World politics   

Reviews (1)

be prepared to focus real hard on this one
This book is a really hard read.It is broken down into regions and countries.Beyond the first couple of chapters I had to put it down and keep it as a reference book.Most of the information was repetative and didn't really give a huge amount of insight.Way too slow a read and very little information using too many words.. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula    2. Civil War, 1998-1999    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Europe    5. Foreign public opinion    6. Geopolitics    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Kosovo (Serbia)    11. Modern - 20th Century    12. National security   

Subjects:  1. Civil War, 1998-1999    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Europe - Baltic States    4. History    5. International Relations - General    6. Intervention (International la    7. Intervention (International law)    8. Kosovo (Serbia)    9. Political Science    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics and government    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)    14. Political Science / International Relations    15. Political science & theory    16. Politics | International Studies | International Security & Strategic Studies    17. Serbia    18. United Nations & UN agencies    19. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (1)

good book about a troubled place
Clark's book is an excellent and thoroughly researched history of the little know civil resistance movement in Kosovo that sprang up in the early 1990s until war broke out in 1998. Clark's research is impeccable (much of it first hand) and this piece is a must read for anyone trying to get a more thorough understanding of this conflict. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Current Affairs    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. International Relations - General    4. Political    5. Political History    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Demonstrations & protest movements    9. History / Europe / Eastern    10. Kosovo (Serbia)    11. Peace studies    12. Revolutions & coups    13. Serbia    14. Southeast Europe    15. c 1980 to c 1990    16. c 1990 to c 2000   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (4)

A good journalistic account
McAllester has told the story of the war in Kosovo from his own perspective, as a journalist moving around the province without official sanction, and from the perspective of several Kosovars living in the city of Pec, like most of Kosovo a formerly Serbian city which is now primarily Albanian. Reporter who forgot he's not the story
If you know anything about the region and recent events, this book will not enlighten you further.If you don't know anything about what went on in Kosovo, but would like to,"A Village Destroyed," by Fred Abrahms is a much better source.If you want to know what it's like to be a green newspaper reporter covering his first war this might be of some interest.

chilling, gripping
I followed the war in Kosovo by reading about it in the newspapers. Then, like the bulk of Americans, pretty much forgot about it once it was over. But thanks to McAllester's exquisite, journalistic eye for detail, I feel as if I was actually there, a witness somehow to the atrocities that took place. Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Civil War, 1998-1999    4. Current Affairs    5. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    6. History    7. History - Military / War    8. History, Military    9. Kosovo (Serbia)    10. Military - Other    11. Military History - 1990-    12. Pec (Serbia)    13. Personal narratives, Albanian    14. Peâc (Serbia)    15. Political    16. Political History    17. Politics/International Relations   

Reviews (3)

Homage to Montenegro
Not until I was well into this book did I realize how much it is needed.The son of illiterate Serbian immigrants from Montenegro, I knew almost no early Montenegrin history.Some of that history is noble, some confused, and some characterized by treachery and double-dealing.There were plots and counterplots.Agreements were always of short duration, and reliability and trust were rare.Significantly, wow... is this one sided
I orded this book to find some information on a contry that is not well known.But, what I got instead of a book is a pamphlet that essentially repeats what the author has been told.It reads poorly and when he does not have facts to make a statement about an individuals ethnic background he makes them Serbian or adds a "probably Serbian" to them.Good lord, this man writes more in the way of a rant than an educated view of a country.He doesn't see that the country does have a mixed population and that there are Albanians, Muslims and other groups living in the country and that they are not traitors.And what the hell does the title have to do with the book... ?

A very nice introduction to Montenegro
A book about MOntenegro's complex history for Westerners written by a westerner! The work is thouroughly illustrated and includes answers to all those questions that a foreign reader might ask of himself. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    2. History - General History    3. Politics/International Relations   

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. Political    5. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    6. Political Process - Leadership    7. Political Science    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Biography: historical    10. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    11. Nationalism    12. Political Science / Leadership    13. Serbia   

Subjects:  1. 1918-1945    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Conspiracies    4. Crna ruka    5. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    6. Europe - General    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Nationalism    11. Serbia   

Editorial Review

The ethnic conflicts in the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo are often bewildering to readers without a grounding in the tangled history of the Balkans. Miranda Vickers, the leading English-language student of Albanian history, does much to clarify the situation with this thorough account of the tiny region, a fertile, mountain-ringed plateau whose Serbian name means something like "place of the blackbirds." That bucolic place name, however, does not speak to the violence that has been visited on the land for centuries.Read more

Reviews (20)

Nationalism
It is obvious that the opinion about this issue is split and that one side will feel one way, and the other side another way, however to say that this is a bad book just because it does not support one's point of view, that is not valid.I was born and raised in Albania, and I know the strong feeling of nationalism people are raised with in that part of the world.I realize that myths are not history, and I know the claims of the Serbs on Kosovo.Vickers looks at facts as they are, she may express some of her own preference in the book, but that does not make it not valid.
A most lucid synopsis on the history of Kosovo...
Miranda Vickers does an excellent job of distilling the available primary and secondary historical and geographical material on the former Yugoslavia into a lucid and compelling book. Unlike some writers, she footnotes hersources so the reader can form his or her own opinions based on furtherreading. The best introduction to the Kosovo problem.
I've been following and working on the Kosovo situation for over two years.I have read many books and articles on the Balkans and especially Kosovo.I first read Ms. Vickers book in the Fall of 1998.Her writing isclear and concise.She does not confuse the writer with uselessterminology that only academics dabble in to demonstrate how"intellectual" they are.Ms. Vickers book is, for the most part,impartial and represents discrepancies on both sides. All sides in Kosovohave myths about their past, this is something not uncommon to nations andpeople throughout the world.Ms. Vickers demonstrates how these myths haveled to Serbian Nationalism and to Albanian reactionarism and the effectsthese beliefs have had on Kosovo.So, in closing, if you want to gain anunderstanding into how the events in Kosovo developed, then read Ms.Vickers book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Albanians    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    5. Ethnic Studies - General    6. Ethnic relations    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Kosovo    11. Kosovo (Serbia)    12. Race And Ethnic Relations    13. Serbia    14. Eastern Europe    15. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    16. Multicultural studies   

Reviews (4)

A Peek into Belgrade
I would've titled this "A Peek into Serbia" but Levinsohn's description of life in Belgrade v. the rest of more rural Serbia was a surprise to me, as was much of the material in this book.A flowing descripteur, Levinsohn transports us to the dusty but beautiful capital of the former Yugoslavia, and allows tainted Western minds to experience the life of a passionate country and culture, one quite unlike any Americans have ever experienced on paper.The politics of the novel can get complicated, especially since the book is nearing ten years old, and the speculations as to whether or not Milosevic will go to trial in the Hague are tedious to readers, since he has already been there several months.In any case, this book was terrific, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to better understand the mentality of Serbians.Her view of Serbs as "victims with a certain victim mentality" was quite refreshing when splashed against the Western view of Serbs as the guilty party of the war in Yugoslavia and it's casualties.The most appreciated part of this book was Levinsohn's desire to get to the heart of the split of Yugoslavia, and to try to lift some of the intense blame placed on Serbians.In my eyes, she has shed some light onto the matter, more than I can say CNN ever did.

Among the Serbs Not Of The Serbs
I read the book just after it was published and missed an opportunity to speak with the author at an appearance she made in Chicago. My only criticism is that the questions the author poses about the Serbian peopleand their situation during the war are never answered. I was waiting forsome insight about the situation and some perspectives on solutions to thepolitical problems in Belgrade. Nothing was answered or ever raised. Wesimply get a diary of small vignettes. If she really did meet all thosepeople, I'm surprised that the author didn't have an answer to the questionshe posed about the Serbian people and their mindset. I sent her a noteinviting her to research some of the writings by Bishop NikolaiVelimirovich, a Serbian Bishop, and survivor of the Holocaust. His take onthe Serbian people, their faith and their tenacity would have explainedeverything to her. "The Serbs will choose the difficult road becauseit is the right one, the Christian one."

Visit Belgrade for a week then write a book.
Something more of a diary or a long letter home than I had expected. The author visits people and recounts their conversations, many of which remind us how mis-understood the poor Serbs really are. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Belgrade    2. Belgrade (Serbia)    3. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    4. Description    5. Description and travel    6. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    7. General    8. Levinsohn, Florence Hamlish,    9. National characteristics, Serbian    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Serbia    12. Serbia and Montenegro    13. Sociology    14. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    15. Dictionaries    16. Eastern Europe    17. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    18. Journeys    19. Levinsohn, Florence Hamlish    20. Political Science / General   

Reviews (2)

Organized Madness
This book is about one single village in Kosovo and the case against those who destroyed it.The book is broken down into sections about The Victims, The Perpetrators, The Plan, etc.From a roll of undeveloped film found in a field we see pictures and self-portraits of the Serb paramilitary men who wreaked havoc on this small pocket of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999.
War Crimes in Kosovo
May 19, 1999, A Village Destroyed, hundreds of Kosovars are captured in JUST ONE, OF THE KOSOVA villages, by the serbian thieves,criminals,put out of prison "people" wearing police and army uniforms - they get all their valuables then they kill all men just to burn their bodies afterwards. Luckily, two men survive the "Lightning" gang policemans" bullets as they were meant to find themselves under somebody elses body...Read more

Subjects:  1. Albanians    2. Atrocities    3. Civil War, 1998-1999    4. Crimes against    5. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    6. Government - Comparative    7. History    8. History & Theory - General    9. Kosovo    10. Kosovo (Serbia)    11. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    12. Political Science    13. Politics / Current Events    14. Politics/International Relations    15. Serbia    16. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Social Science / Anthropology / General    18. War crimes    19. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia    20. c 1980 to c 1990    21. c 1990 to c 2000   

Subjects:  1. 1992-    2. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    3. Democracy    4. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    5. Europe - Baltic States    6. History & Theory - General    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Nationalism    10. North Atlantic Treaty Organiza    11. Political Ideologies - Democracy    12. Political Science    13. Politics and government    14. Serbia    15. Serbia and Montenegro    16. Revolutions & coups   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American - General    3. American Contemporary Poetry    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Historical - Holocaust    7. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    8. Literary    9. Poetry    10. Poets, American    11. Schieber, Ava Kadishson    12. Women    13. World War, 1939-1945    14. Yugoslavia    15. American English    16. Collections & anthologies of various literary forms    17. Drawing & drawings    18. History / Holocaust    19. Poetry anthologies: from c 1900 -    20. Serbia    21. The Holocaust   

Reviews (10)

Mediocre
Mostly a personal account, not much real data.Sort of a feminist take on rape in wartime, but a little under-researched and over-dramatized.Not recommended.

Take Note: An Influential Book
Rape Warfare was a courageous book to write:Beverly Allen dared to speak out about how rape was being used systematically before `historical consensus' had validated that claim.Thus it became an influential and historically significant work, credited today with having been instrumental in the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal's decision to change international law so that war rape might now be prosecuted as a "crime against humanity."The very first convictions under this new law were handed down in February 2001. Take Note: An Influential Book
Rape Warfare was a courageous book to write:Beverly Allen dared to speak out about how rape was being used systematically before `historical consensus' had validated that claim.Thus it became an influential and historically significant work, credited today with having been instrumental in the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal's decision to change international law so that war rape might now be prosecuted as a "crime against humanity."The very first convictions under this new law were handed down in February 2001.Read more

Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Bosnia and Hercegovina    3. General    4. Genocide    5. History: World    6. Offenses Against Women    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Rape    9. War Crimes And Criminals    10. Women's Studies - History    11. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    12. Bosnia-Herzegovina    13. Crime & criminology    14. Croatia    15. Serbia    16. The Holocaust    17. Women's studies