Reviews (5)

The fight for freedom- of the press and of the people
I may be biased because I have worked with Kemal but I have to say that I truly enjoyed this book. as an American I never fully understood what happened in Sarajevo- why it happened or the extent of the conflict overthere. After reading this book I was rather ashamed that the rest of theworld did nothing. Worse, we continue to allow atrocities to be perpetuatedin that corner of the world. This book remains topical. Conflicts continueto erupt in the region and anyone who wants to speak intelligently on thesubject, understand the story that's not in the news or would like to readabout an un-sung hero, read this book.Kemal is presently working on a newbook and reading this one would be a great starter. I would read this bookover and over again. Its the story of people fighting for democracy andfreedom (focused on freedom of the press) and the long bloody road that layin front of them.

Essential reading from ?Books on Bosnia?
This memoir by the editor-in-chief of Oslobodjenje from 1991 to 1995 bears unrivalled witness to the resilience and survival of an operative civil society in Sarajevo under siege. Under Kurspahi 's editorship the paper came to symbolize the resistance of Bosnia-Herzegovina and its people togenocidal aggression and to terrible deprivation, while at the same timemaintaining its journalistic integrity and critical independence when to doso was hard indeed. (This short review is from "Book on Bosnia" publishedby The Bosnian Institute)

bad writting , fishy explanation of what happened
bad writting , fishy explanation of what happene ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Bosnia and Hercegovina    3. Bosnian newspapers    4. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    5. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    6. General    7. History    8. Journalism    9. Journalism and the war    10. Politics - Current Events    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Press And Society    14. Sarajevo    15. Yugoslav War, 1991-   

Editorial Review

In this updated version of a modern classic, acclaimed historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. strikes a blow against radical multiculturalism. The rising cult of ethnicity, he argues, threatens a common American identity, imperiling the civic ideals that traditionally have bonded immigrants into a nation. Various chapters criticize bilingual education, Afrocentrism, and the use of history as group therapy for minorities.Schlesinger raised eyebrows when he first published this book in 1992 because of his impeccable liberal credentials as a one-time assistant to President Kennedy and long-standing academic champion of FDR's New Deal.This new version contains all of the original volume's edge, plus a few extras, including an appendix containing "Schlesinger's Syllabus," 13 books "indispensable to an understanding of America." Titles from this eclectic list include Read more

Reviews (23)

It's Tribalism Stupid
While this book was not as compelling as I expected it to be, I completely agree with the general premise. That being that multi-culturalism taken too far is both harmful and counter-productive. Not to mention that it is completely antithetical to what our founders envisioned for this country. Mr. Schlesinger has nothing against the teaching of cultures other than European-American, but he insists that an over-emphasis on ethnicity, ultimately promotes division and an 'us vs. them' mentality. Multi-culturalists argue that it is important for students to be taught about their own respective ethnicity in order to have self-esteem and pride. Mr. Schlesinger argues, and I firmly agree, that as Americans, we no longer belong to the ethnicities of our grandfathers. Our founding fathers were clear about this, Americans are a "new race of men" who must "cast off the European skin, never to resume it." Indeed, America was meant to be a melting pot. Schlesinger acknowledges that throughout much of our history, many minorities were forcibly excluded from fully assimilating. This is no longer the case though, and I think it is important to point out that just because a man (or a nation) fails to live up to it's ideals, does not mean that the ideals are wrong. Included in the book are quotes from various Americans about this issue, and I was somewhat surprised by some of them. For instance, the great Frederick Douglas said, "No one idea has given rise to more opression and persecution toward the colored people of this country, than that which makes Africa, not America, their home. It is that wolfish idea that elbows us off the sidewalk, and denies us the rights of citizenship."
still a spot on rendering of current immigration
I'll admit upfront...I haven't reread this in several years.But I remember the text 's main arguments as if it were last month.Nothing in the ensuing years has undercut Mr Sclesinger's main argument, and much has substantiated it.In fact...one has only to look at the recent riots in France to see that it isn't even a distinctly American phenomenon.
Clearly many of yopu didn't read the book
As usual, over the last 50 years Schlesinger puts honesty and a will to make the world a better place over dogmatism, and as usual he manages to offend the ideologues concerned with putting things in their neat little boxes. Schlesinger NEVER comes close to showing any sympathy for, yet alone endorsing eurocentrism, he spends much of the book lamenting the institutional racism of this nations past and present. What Shlesinger says is that building equally disingenous constructs of history for non white groups is also counterproducitve, and will do nothing to break the eurocentric psyche of our society. If you disagree with him why not debate the merits of his idea's, instead of calling a man who spent his life fighting for social justice a racist. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Civilization    3. Current Affairs    4. Ethnic relations    5. History & Theory - General    6. Minority Studies - Ethnic American    7. Minority Studies - Race Relations    8. Multicultural education    9. Multiculturalism    10. Pluralism (Social sciences)    11. Sociology    12. United States    13. American history    14. Canada    15. Cultural studies    16. Multicultural studies    17. Nigeria    18. Social issues    19. USA    20. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Editorial Review

The recent war in Bosnia re-ignited ancient hatreds and led to acts of brutalitythat echoed World War II atrocities: large-scale massacres and "ethniccleansing". Bosnian Serbs, aided by Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic,systematically murdered, raped, and terrorized Bosnian Muslims as they strove to create aGreater Serbia. Now, journalist Tim Judah provides some perspective on the horrors ofthe Bosnian conflict with Read more

Reviews (29)

Miserable propaganda
Throwing usnuported by the facts claims about Serbs and intentionally distorting the truth - are the only marks of this book. Good for garbage bin, as somebody already mentioned here.

Devoid of historical seriousness or journalistic integrity
It is necessary to correct the current trend of public commentary, which tends, systematically, not to understand events in the former Yugoslavia but to construct a propagandistic version of Balkan rivalries, designed to validate the existing post-modern myths and prejudices. This book faithfully reflects the post-modern blinkers that its author has helped first create and then perpetuate in his "coverage" of the Wars of Yugoslav Succession. This book reflects his (and their) belief that the Orthodox nations of Southeast Europe - embodied in "the Serbs" - are The Other vis-a-vis "The West" in the Huntingtonian sense. The author's assumptions are prejudiced in a coarse, primordial manner.
just the facts
mythomaniacs?
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Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Europe - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Serbia    8. Serbia and Montenegro    9. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    10. Civil war    11. Croatia    12. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    13. History / General    14. History of specific racial & ethnic groups   

Reviews (22)

Detailed, but incomplete and biased
As most other reviews stated, this book is easy to read, and it provides a detailed description of the events throughout the Croatian and Bosnian War (1990-1995) This book is supplemented by the highly popular BBC series - "Death of Yugoslavia," which is perhaps the most-known documentary on the war. The documentary follows the book quiet closely, with an inherent strength of BBC reports having interviews to most of the major players - Milosevic, Tudjman, Stambolic, Izanbegovic, and others (most of which are in jail or dead now anyways).
Designed and Decided by the West
This book of the disintegration of Jugoslavia is very detailed, nicely organized, and easy to read one. It covers the step-by-step death of Jugoslavia, and like many reviewers I found biases dragging all over the book as if the Muslims are saints and the Serbs devils. The blame on Milosevic is constant, but the blame of Tudjman does not exist. How good or bad Milosevic is/was, it was designed and decided by the USA and the Western Europe-same like in Irag, with once Western darling Saddam Hussein and suddenly the evil, the demon. The ethnic differences in Jugoslavia were created and provoked by the USA and the Western Europe ONLY by corrupting the Balkans governments in search for more markets for their collapsing empires and places for their oil tubes for their SUV's and poluted fat ways of living.
A brilliant analysis of the breakup of Yugoslavia
Silber and Little offer in this book irrefutably the most exhaustive and lucid account of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the war in Bosnia. Unilke other books on the same subject, this book sheds light on key events in a chronological order, facilitating comprehension and the retrieval of target facts. Readers with no or fairly little knowledge of the subject will probably find the structure of this book very appealing.
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Subjects:  1. 1980-1992    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    4. Current Affairs    5. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    6. Europe - Baltic States    7. History    8. History & Theory - General    9. History: World    10. Political    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    13. Yugoslavia    14. Eastern Europe    15. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    16. History / Baltic States    17. Political structure & processes   

Editorial Review

Warren Zimmermann was the American ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1992, the period when the breakup of the Soviet empire caused the Balkans to slide into war. In this candid insider's account he recounts the failures of American and European diplomacy to prevent a catastrophe that was, according to Zimmerman, not only foreseeable but entirely preventable. The most chilling pages in this book depict Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who looked the ambassador in the eye, puffed on his Italian cigarillos, and stated that "Serbia has nothing to do with Bosnia." Now, as U.S. troops prepare to pull out of Bosnia by the end of 1996, Zimmermann's memoir paints a bleak future for this war-torn corner of Eastern Europe. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Wow
Origins of Catastrophe is a book for everyone who likes to see how Yugoslavia was broken up before it even existed. Warren Zimmerman - a former Yugoslavian U.S. Ambasador writes frankly and in details on all his encounters with the Yugoslavian beasts that lived in Serbia's parliament. A memoir, NOT history.
This book should be read not just as a memoir, but as a memoir of a man with a guilty conscience.Many people hold Zimmerman responsible for sabotaging the 'Lisbon accord' a peaceful solution to the Bosnian situation brokered by the President of Portugal in March 1992.It was Zimmerman's 'hero,' former Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, who mysteriously broke the accord and forced the Serbs to declare a independent state.Zimmerman spends much of the book trying to justify Izetbegovic's (and his own) actions. Diplomatic, but not afraid to point fingers
A memoir by the man who was US Ambassador to Yugoslavia during 1989-1992. Zimmerman, declaring that "Yugoslavia was destroyed from the top down," focuses especially upon how the political leaders there tore their country apart. He also blames the Serbian Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church in Croatia for their "disgraceful role by exacerbating racial tensions." Zimmerman criticizes Western Europe (and especially the British and French governments) for their early lack of concern as Yugoslav unity became imperiled. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Causes    2. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    3. General    4. History    5. History: World    6. International    7. Nationalism    8. Politics - Current Events    9. Yugoslav War, 1991-    10. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    11. Yugoslavia    12. 20th century    13. Current Events / International    14. Ethnic studies    15. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    16. International institutions    17. Warfare & Defence    18. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Editorial Review

Tim Judah lived in Belgrade from 1990 to 1995, reporting for the London Read more

Reviews (8)

Judah beats authors to the punch year after war
Overall, this is a much better book than Judah's previous work, Serbs.It appeared hardly a year after the conflict in Kosovo, and with the wealth of material that has appeared about Serbia, Kosovo, and Milosevic, it is slightly dated in its tone, though the many quotes and accounts of the happenings on the ground are valuable. Excellent coverage of Kosovo's recent history
When fighting in Kosovo began breaking out and hitting news tabloids in mid-1998, the problem was that few people knew about this region's history, let alone its location on the globe. No one could quite understand the motives of Serbs and Albanians, who were at odds with each other. When NATO began bombing rump Yugoslavia for its conduct against Kosovo Albanian civilians, uncritical (and heavily biased) media reports and press coverage were the only source of information that one could turn to for background. While this may have been better than nothing, this information was far from providing a critical and satisfactory explanation and understanding. This was the case, until Tim Judah wrote his second book, the current one now under review. Six stars out of five
No matter how much graphic TV footage we saw and how many acres of newsprint we read on the Kosovo crisis, nothing gave us enough information about what was really going on. As with any war situation, information was often unavoidably contradictory and confused, tainted with propaganda. Politicians and historians and revisionists will probably mull over the recent events in Kosovo for years before presenting their views. Read more

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Europe - General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Middle East - General    7. Albania    8. Civil war    9. Ethnic studies    10. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    11. History / Middle East    12. Serbia    13. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia    14. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (14)

More than The Bridge Betrayed!
Sells has been know to write interesting books covering issues and clashes between Christians and Muslims, due to his Serbian heritege and his background as a Professor and chairperson of the Department of Religion at Haverford College, in the US. He critisices his own in a very tough and honest way. Even if some fanatics will claim that he only speaks about the horrible acts of crime conducted by Serbians and Croats.
Awsome
I just finished reading this book and it was so intriguing that I finished it in one sitting. It will open your eyes, on the matter of Bosnia, so big that you'll be able to see the craters on Uranus, if there is any over there. Read it!

Solid
Sells gives us a solid account of the war in Bosnia in the early 1990's. However, I do have some criticisms. While he covers in quite abit of detail Croat and especially Serb religious fanaticism and violence, he only mentions the Bosniac's own atrocities on a couple of occasions.Read more

Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Bosnia and Hercegovina    3. Comparative Religion    4. Death & Dying    5. Destruction and pillage    6. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    7. Muslims    8. Religion    9. Religion - World Religions    10. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    11. Bosnia-Herzegovina    12. Christian doctrinal theology    13. Civil war    14. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    15. Nationalism    16. Religion / General    17. The Holocaust    18. History    19. Yugoslavia   

Editorial Review

Part travelogue, part history, part love letter on a thousand-page scale, Rebecca West's Read more

Reviews (46)

Literature at its best

Large, masterful
Black Lamb and Gray Falcon is monumental, and anyone that has written formal fiction or non-fiction can only marvel at how West maintains control over her materials at nearly 500,000 words, and over 1100 pages.We never get the impression that she is fatigued with the work --- and there is no repetition.Even if one is not interested in travel literature, BLGF is a must read, because it one of the great examples of its genre, and as such, transcends it.For all its length, West complains that one can never fully write about a place, can never actually capture it!That nugget is somewhere on page 900, I think, and although the reader can sympathize with her exasperation, we can hardly believe her.

1181 pages too many
This book is a huge disappointment.Instead of discovering the history of a wonderful people, I found bigotry, racism, snobisness and intolerance.At page 200 or so, and after many tries to warm up to this author with her narrow-minded and slanted views, I decided to just put it down and search for unbiased history in other sources. To readers who haven't visited the Balkans, I'd suggest save your money to actually travel there.You won't be disappointed by the wonderful islands or it's people. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century Description And Travel    2. Description and travel    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Eastern question (Balkan)    5. Essays & Travelogues    6. Europe - General    7. Former Soviet Republics    8. History    9. History - General History    10. Travel    11. West, Rebecca - Prose & Criticism    12. Yugoslavia    13. Travel / Essays & Travelogues   

Reviews (1)

Ethnic Conflict
This book is a must for any student of ethnic politics combining some of the best articles in print on the subject. The reader is accessible for students at both an undergraduate and graduate level, but is written insuch a fashion that anyone can follow the logic of the authors' respectivearguments.Mike Brown's edited volumes are always excellent, this one ishis very best. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1985-1995    2. Ethnic Politics    3. Ethnic conflict    4. History & Theory - General    5. International Relations - General    6. Nationalism    7. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    8. Political Process - General    9. Political Science    10. Political aspects    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics/International Relations    13. World politics    14. Africa    15. Conflict resolution    16. Ethnic studies    17. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    18. India    19. International relations    20. Russia    21. Warfare & Defence    22. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. 1945-1955    2. Foreign Relations    3. History: American    4. Italy    5. Territorial questions    6. Trieste    7. World War, 1939-1945    8. World politics    9. Yugoslavia    10. American history: from c 1900 -    11. Eastern Europe    12. European history: from c 1900 -    13. International relations    14. USA   

Subjects:  1. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    2. Current Affairs    3. Diplomatic history    4. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    5. Foreign Relations    6. History: World    7. International Relations - General    8. Political    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    11. Yugoslavia    12. Central government policies    13. Eastern Europe    14. International relations    15. Political Science / International Relations    16. Political structure & processes   

Subjects:  1. Ethnomusicology    2. Folk music    3. Genres & Styles - Folk & Traditional    4. History and criticism    5. Music    6. Music/Songbooks    7. Popular music    8. Yugoslavia    9. Music / Folk & Traditional    10. Social history    11. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. Diplomatic history    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. International Relations - General    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    9. International relations    10. Peacekeeping operations    11. Southeast Europe    12. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Civil War, 1998-1999    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. History    6. Individual Photographer    7. KFOR (Organization)    8. Kosovo (Serbia)    9. Photo Techniques    10. Photoessays & Documentaries    11. Photography    12. Pictorial works    13. Social conditions    14. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Europe    15. Albania    16. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    17. Individual photographers    18. Other warfare & defence issues    19. Photographic reportage    20. Photography / Individual Photographer    21. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Europe - Baltic States    5. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    6. History & Theory - General    7. History - General History    8. International Relations - General    9. Political Science    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Post-Communism    12. History / Former Soviet Republics    13. International relations    14. Southeast Europe    15. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (3)

Gripping
Wartime is the WWII memoir of the great Yugoslav dissident, Milovan Djilas.A leading prewar Communist activist and a high ranking member of the Yugoslav Communist leadership after the war, Djilas was expelled from the party and imprisoned (in the same prison where he had been jailed by the pre-war dictatorship) for his dissident opinions.During WWII, Djilas was a leading figure in the Communist (Partisan) resistance and participated in many of the major events following the German conquest of Yugoslavia.Written many years after the war, this is no panegyric but rather a stark and honest accounting enriched by Djilas' mature reflections on the outcome of the war and the subsequent development of an authoritarian Communist state in Yugoslavia.
A good way to understand the past of Yugoslavia
I read this book after I had served in Bosnia, for the US Army.This book gave real insight into the creation of the Tito-era Yugoslavia, and what came afterwards.I was surprised at the violence of the three-way civil war that was within WW II in Yugoslavia, and how it played out into the war of the 1990's.I highly recommend this book to others interested in a good account of the history of the socialist Yugoslavia.

Fascinating Eye-witness account of Yugoslavia in WWII
Djilas was Tito�s 2nd man in the communist partisan movement in WWII. They fought against Germans, Italians, Hungarians, Royal Serbs (Tschetnizi) and national Croats (Ustashi) and succeeded. Often left alone by their allies(east and west), they faced death more than once. But this is not a heroicrecount of that time, no pro-communist biased official praise. Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Djilas, Milovan,    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. History - Military / War    5. History: World    6. Military - World War II    7. Underground movements    8. World War, 1939-1945    9. Yugoslavia    10. History    11. History / Military / World War II    12. History-Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    13. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (2)

Translation of a bitter ex-communist
Too academic and philosophic.I could not finish the book.If you want to know about Tito, read West's book.

Insider�s view
It hardly needs to be said that anyone interested in studying the life and times of the famed Yugoslav dictator Tito cannot avoid reading this book. Milovan Djilas was one of Tito's most trusted deputies during the communist-led antifascist resistance during World War II, and one of Yugoslavia's most influential politicians during the immediate postwar years (considered one of the regime's chief ideologues). Even after his break with Tito in the early 1950s and general fall from grace, Djilas kept abreast of Yugoslav political events at the highest levels, as well as the personalities standing behind them. Here he offers a relatively candid and often critical view of Tito, and provides many insights into his actions and motivations. At one point in the text, Djilas also inadvertently repeats some of the rationalizations used by Tito and other Yugoslav officials for the often brutal political repression of opponents (both real and imagined), especially after the 1948 Comintern crisis. All in all, this is a very readable and illuminating insider's account of Tito and his leadership style. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1892-1980    2. 1911-    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Djilas, Milovan,    8. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    9. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    10. Historical - General    11. Presidents    12. Tito, Josip Broz,    13. Yugoslavia    14. BG-HOUSE & HOME - BG-HOUSE & HOME    15. Biography & Autobiography / Historical    16. Biography: historical    17. Djilas, Milovan    18. European history: from c 1900 -    19. Marxism & Communism    20. Other prose: from c 1900 -    21. Tito, Josip Broz    22. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Editorial Review

Journalist David Rohde was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for his reporting on the Bosnian city of Srebrenica. After the United Nations' "safe haven" fell, Rohde investigated reports of massacres, and was arrested by Bosnian Serbs while investigating mass graves near the town.

Reviews (27)

Anatony of a Massacre
This is an extraordinary book that describes the now forensically-proven slaughter in chilling detail and pulls no punches: indeed, while Rohde rightly places the blame for this massacre squarely on the shoulders of the Bosnian Serb leadership and their patrons in Serbia proper, the UN, US, and Europeans are also taken to task for their incompetence and negligence, as is the Bosnian Government.

A good read, although could be more complete
This is a well written book and with its hour by hour simultaneous documentary approach is rather like another book I have called "The Day Guernica Died" by different authors published 30 years ago.This one looks at the actions, or inactions, of those involved on the ground, and at the wider political picture including that of the pontification of UN and NATO leaders, who you feel after reading this may as well not been there at all. After reading it you get a good feel for what happened, except in a few places where the author admits he can't decide betweenn conflicting accounts, but are still left wondering about why it happened - what was the basis of the underlying ehtnic tensions that lead to the Muslims, Serbs and Croats having the attitudes to each other that they did?The whole war in former Yugoslavia seemed quite unbelievable to those of us who were well removed from the events, and probably even to those in some neighbouring countries.After all, it was (and still is) a lovely countryside full of historic pretty towns and villages and the people seemed unified under Tito who, although communist, wasn't under the Soviet yoke.In fact the people had a reputation for humor and fun - within a short space of time it all changed.We are told that in WWII the Croats generally aligned themselves with the Nazis while the Serbs generally fought against them, but not a whole lot more.(The author doesn't mention that the Muslims generally aligned themselves with the Nazis too and in fact formed an SS division: 13.Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS "Handschar")This background information is something you will need to look for el