Reviews (9)

You've got to be kidding
Before going on, it is important to point out that Ignatieff is a journalist, NOT a historian. While both are required to check their facts for accuracy, the journalist permits personal opinion and argument to fill in all the holes, something to make the historian dissociate himself from friends in the press.
An interesting series of essays
I bought this book a couple of years ago but did not get around to reading it until last week, shortly after the war in Iraq ended (more or less). I was curious to see what kind of perspective it would offer not only on the Kosovo campaign but on the war in Iraq. I found it both a useful refresher on a very different battle, the 79 day air campaign against Serbia, and an interesting meditation on modern war. Not sure what to make of this
Clearly Michael Ignatieff is a gifted writer, but the theme throughout this book did not string together that well.Ignatieff had some great insights into the diplomacy building up to the Kosovo air campaign (i.e. gaining valuable insight into Holbrooke's shuttle diplomacy), but some of the observations, particularly those in the last chapter beg questioning.Read more

Subjects:  1. Civil War, 1998-1999    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. International Relations - General    7. Kosovo (Serbia)    8. Military & War    9. Military - Other    10. Military History - 1990-    11. Military Science    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Technology    14. Technology And Society   

Reviews (1)

Apologists for genocide
Absolute nonsense from a passle of kooks and conspiracy theorists eager to pass on propaganda from genocidal sociopaths like Slobodan Milosevic.While the reactions of the "West" to the events of Yugoslavia's disintegration and the aggression of Serbia on its neighbors (and Croatia on Bosnia) were hardly exemplary, it is facile at best to argue that the U.S. and/or NATO had anyhting at all to gain from "stimulating" war in the region.Including "contributions" from Milosevic to make the case for these brain-dead theories is like quoting from "Mein Kampf" to prove that Hitler was a peace-loving individual.Read this only if you are looking for evidence that there are still people with little enough regard for the truth and morality that they would act as apologists for some of the most evil people of recent history.This work defies all credibility and is both morally and intellectually bankrupt.
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Subjects:  1. 1992-2003    2. Armed Forces    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    5. History    6. History - General History    7. International Relations - General    8. North Atlantic Treaty Organiza    9. North Atlantic Treaty Organization    10. Operation Allied Force, 1999    11. Political Science    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Yugoslavia    14. Political Science / International Relations   

Subjects:  1. Civil War, 1998-1999    2. Criminal justice, Administration of    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. History    5. History - General History    6. Human rights    7. International Relations - General    8. Kosovo    9. Kosovo (Serbia)    10. Peace    11. Political Science    12. Politics/International Relations    13. Serbia    14. Conflict resolution    15. International institutions    16. Warfare & Defence    17. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (2)

My mum wrote this
i liked this book a lot i am only 14 years old but i found it very good A detailed analysis of a little known period of history
Bracewell's book chronicles the rise and fall of the Uskoks and their (largely unrecognized) role in the shaping of modern Europe. The book is enlightening in its depiction of the Uskok "pirates"of theAdriatic ( from Senj in Croatia) as the last bastion between Islam andChristianity. The Ottoman Empire extended to the South of of the Uskokenclave of Senj. This frontier (in modern Croatia) is where the Ottomans,the Austro-Hungarians and the Venetians converged, all with their ownagendas. The result is a engrossing history lesson in in war, peace,diplomacy, religion, negotiation, political deals and merchant trade. Bracewell's book analyses the customs and culture of theUskoks as well astheir battle against not only the Ottoman Empire, but alsoVenice andeventually (their ally) Austria. A stimulating, well annotated, but notlight read. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Dalmatia (Croatia)    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    5. History - General History    6. History, Military    7. History: World    8. Uskoks    9. Crime & criminology    10. Eastern Europe    11. World history   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    2. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History / Military / World War II    6. Social conditions    7. Sociology    8. Underground movements    9. Women    10. Women and the military    11. Women's Studies - History    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. Yugoslavia    14. 20th century    15. Axis occupation, 1941-1945    16. Feminism    17. History Of Women (General)    18. Military - World War II    19. Resistance movements, War    20. Women - 20th Century History   

Reviews (5)

Recanting an Earlier Review
I wrote the review of "For Humanity" immediately below ("Lazy Book").Even though my review was negative, I recently reread Goldstone's book after hearing him speak at a conference in Washington. His intelligence and decency must have made an impression on me, because I enjoyed "For Humanity" a lot more the second time.
Lazy Book
Goldstone is a skillful lawyer and a dedicated human rights activist. He played a central role in South Africa's transition to democracy and in the purusit of justice in the former Yugoslavia. He has a sharp eye for bureaucratic absurdity (especially in the UN).He knows world leaders and could have written a fascinating "inside" history. Instead, he produced this short, lightweight book comprised of little more than anecdotes and name-dropping.It's incredible that Yale University Press saw fit to publish it. We can only hope that Goldstone will turn to writing a serious autobiography after he steps down from the South African Constitutional Court.

Superficial Yet Interesting
I was looking for the specifics of the South African problem and reconciliation.Goldstone focuses on the logistics of his position as judge/prosecutor, rather than on specific crimes and prosecutions.O'Connor's introduction is the most interesting part of the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa - South - South Africa    2. Apartheid    3. Criminology    4. History - General History    5. International    6. International Tribunal for Rwa    7. International Tribunal for the    8. International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991    9. Law    10. Political    11. South Africa    12. War Crimes And Criminals    13. War crimes    14. Biography: general    15. Career in human rights    16. Goldstone, Richard    17. History / South Africa    18. Human rights    19. International humanitarian law   

Reviews (2)

Why Mihailovich Mattered
At the close of World War II, David Martin, then a Canadian-born, American-bred Socialist (read: Social Democrat)journalist investigated the sordid tale of the abandonment of Drazha Mihailovich, the great Serb Patriot and anti-Nazi fighter in his chilling "Ally Betrayed" - the uncensored story of Tito and Mihailovich.
A riveting account of the betrayal of a great Serb ally
Martin provides much need insight into this poorly understood theatre of World War II - the Balkans. Using recently declassified British intelligence documents and radio transmission transcripts from the field, Martin builds a strong case for the defense of General Draza Mihailovich, the Serbian guerilla leader who was abandoned by the British in favour of the Communist leader Tito. British field documents show that Serbian Chetnik forces carried out large scale attacks against German and Croat Nazi units up to 1944 - long after they stopped getting Allied aid. Importantly, they continued rescuing downed Allied airmen, culminating in the rescue in June, 1944 of more than 500 US and British airmen who were evacuated by US Airforce aircraft from Serbia in an operation codenamed "Halyard" - the largest rescue in US Airforce history. All round a tremendous contribution to WWII history. I might add, that just last year, more than 50 years after the fact, the official British archives have admitted that Communist moles working for SOE (Special Operations Executive) manipulated and falsified field transcripts from the Serb Chetniks thereby resulting in official British support switching to Tito. Martin's thesis has been proven correct.Nicholas Tintor Toronto ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century Diplomatic History    2. Diplomatic history    3. Foreign relations    4. Great Britain    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Military - World War II    8. World War, 1939-1945    9. Yugoslavia    10. Churchill, Winston    11. Contributions in diplomacy    12. Diplomacy    13. Klugmann, James    14. World history: from c 1900 -   

Features

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Reviews (1)

a wasted opportunity by Colovic
Because I'd read the British edition which was translated correctly as "The Politics of Symbol in Serbia", I didn't get what I bargained for. What I hoped would be an analysis of crowd psychology and nationalism, turned out to be a political polemic against the Milosevic regime and the kind of nationalism that allegedly brought that regime to power. Thus, the translation of the US edition: "Politics of Identity in Serbia: Essays in Political Anthropology" is really an incorrect translation of the original Serbian title. However this is actually a good thing, since the title of Colovic's book in Serbian is "Politika Simbola u Srbiji" - that isn't a good title at all to describe the subject matter of this book.
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Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Group identity    3. History & Theory - General    4. Nationalism    5. Political aspects    6. Political culture    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Serbia    10. Serbia and Montenegro    11. NATIONALISM_YUGOSLAVIA    12. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    13. SERBIA_HISTORY    14. SERBIA_POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT    15. Social Science / Sociology / General   

Reviews (2)

Informative, complex, eye-opening, hard to read
After reading this book, I bought a copy for my son who is a U.S Army paratrooper expecting to be deployed to Kosovo.The author provides good perspective on the history & demise of Yugoslavia, and on subsequentevents up to 1995. While especially critical of the Serbs, he demonstratesflaws and errors on nearly every hand, local or global, that havecontributed to the terrible events in the region.Some of the analysisseems eerily prescient given the ability to read it with five years moregone by. The brevity of the book is a mixed blessing -- so many people,places and organizations come into play, with so little detail given oneach, that I frequentlyforgot who was who or got different ones confusedwith each other.However, like the individual stitches in a tapestry, thedetails still present an overall pattern that has helped me understand thenews and recent history much more clearly -- but you have to want to readit.The one crying need in the book is for maps.Each of the three smallline drawing maps covers a long and imprecise time period and lacks detail. No topographical features are shown,some political boundaries areindicated vaguely aand others not at all. Many cities and locales thatfigure prominently in the text are not on any of the maps.I came awaywith a clearer picture of the politics and ethnicity but completely unableto relate any of my new knowledge to the geography of the region.If youbuy the book, get several maps of the region to use with it.

Detailed account of the formation and breakup of Yugoslavia
Christopher Bennett gives a very accurate history of Yugoslavia from before WWI up to 1994.Very detailed beginning with 1980 forward. Very informative.Worked well for a research paper I prepared using it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    2. General    3. History - General History    4. Politics/International Relations    5. Civil war    6. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. 1911-    2. 1945-1980    3. 20th century    4. Authors, Sorbian    5. Balkan Peninsula - History    6. Biography    7. Djilas, Milovan,    8. General    9. History    10. History: World    11. Statesmen    12. Unassigned Title    13. Yugoslavia    14. Djilas, Milovan   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Causes    4. Discrimination & Racism    5. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    6. Ethnic relations    7. Europe - General    8. Former Yugoslav republics    9. History: World    10. Nationalism    11. Social History    12. Social Science    13. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    14. Ethnic studies    15. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    16. Peace studies    17. Social & cultural anthropology    18. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Reviews (1)

Guide to post-Dayton Bosnia
Chandler's book is an outstanding analysis and critique of the political/administrative system set up in Bosnia-Herzegovina after the signing of the Dayton Accords in late 1995. There is a very useful breakdown of the (too numerous) power structures at work in the country, from the `local entity' governments of the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska to the astoundingly confusing layers of international administrative bodies and organizations. The rather obvious result is that little gets accomplished with all of these parallel governing institutions in place. Chandler's central argument is that the deep involvement of the international powers in Bosnia through the Office of the High Representative, NATO, the OSCE and other bodies is actually making matters worse, rather than laying down the foundations for peaceful coexistence and Bosnian self-government. In this vein, for these international institutions the process of "democratization" has become an end to itself rather than the ideal objective of establishing a functioning democracy that would require no international tutelage. Chandler also correctly points out that the Dayton Accords, although declaratively committed to a multiethnic, unified Bosnian state, have in fact solidified the country's division into ethnically-based units. However, the book is less persuasive where it implies that a major withdrawal of international troops would not necessarily mean a resumption of hostilities. Indeed, Chandler focuses very little attention to the mutual fear, mistrust and hatred which escalated in the early 1990s and led to the war in the first place. Nonetheless, this is a very useful, and damning, overview of an international experiment in peace-making and state-building - a must-read for anyone interested in Bosnia's future. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    2. Economic Conditions    3. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    4. Political History    5. Political Science    6. Politics - Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Bosnia-Herzegovina    9. Human rights    10. International relations    11. Political structures: democracy    12. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (6)

A Useful Guide to Yugoslav History
An excellent addition to the literature on Yugoslav and Serbian history.A must for anyone who would like to learn more about the region.Concise and easy to read.The entries on events and important individulas and institutions have not been burdened by the subjective interpretations and judgements.Highly recommended reading for general public and Yugoslav scholars.

A standard for scholars, students, and foreign policy makers
Finally, we have a comprehensive and coherent masterwork on Yugoslavia from a Balkan expert and an IPE scholar. The post-Cold War literature on international relations of Yugoslavia's demise, in its substance andmethod, for the most part, has not discriminated between truth and opinion.It has not discriminated between what is true objectively and rationally,supported by evidence and illuminated by reason, and what is only asubjective judgment, separated from the facts, unrealistic, and informed byprejudice. A standard reference for scholars and policy makers
Finally, a comprehensive and coherent volume on Yugoslavia from a Balkan expert and an IPE scholar. The post-Cold War literature on international relations of Yugoslavia's demise, in its substance and method, for the mostpart, has not discriminated between truth and opinion -- between what istrue objectively and rationally, supported by evidence and illuminated byreason, and what is only a subjective judgment, separated from the facts,unrealistic, and informed by prejudice.Read more

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Dictionaries    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. Europe - General    5. History    6. History - General History    7. Reference    8. Yugoslavia    9. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    10. Reference works    11. Social Science / Reference    12. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Editorial Review

David Fromkin's instant analysis arrived in bookshelves less than two months after the completion of NATO's 11-week air campaign against the Serbian government led by Slobodan Milosevic. As such, it deals much more with the historical factors that led to Operation Allied Forces than with the military action itself. In addition to providing a very broad overview to about three millennia of Balkan history, Fromkin tracks the growth of the United States as a world power in the 20th century and its mixed record of interventionism, then shows how those two tracks collided in the aftermath of the First World War, and again shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellite regimes in the late 1980s. "The positions taken by President Clinton in the 1990s," Fromkin argues, "are those staked out for the United States by President Wilson eighty years ago." He goes on to assert that those positions, which require the United States to support Eastern European "self-determination" in principle but oppose actual nationalist movements that it fears would undermine the region's political stability, have not--and likely never will--succeed in the long run. "Serbia's apparent surrender in June 1999 was a triumph for the United States. But it was the easy part," Fromkin concludes. But ending the war is not the same thing as bringing about peace. "It may be a long time, if ever, before we are justified in breaking open the champagne." Read more

Reviews (12)

The Ideology and Reality of American Intervention

A deep map in time and space of American foreign policy
I have just finished historian David Fromkin's Kosovo Crossing: The Reality of American Intervention in the Balkans. I've long been interested in Balkan history, particularly since reading Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon in 1996.
Predictions of Things to Come
The book is a thought provoking analysis of the difficulties of intervening in a country where ethnic and religious passions are
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Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    4. Europe - Baltic States    5. Foreign relations    6. Government - U.S. Government    7. History & Theory - General    8. International Relations - General    9. Intervention (International la    10. Intervention (International law)    11. Political History    12. Political Science    13. Politics - Current Events    14. Politics / Current Events    15. Politics and government    16. Politics/International Relations    17. U.S. Foreign Relations    18. United States    19. Current Events / International    20. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    21. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    2. History   

Reviews (1)

An important study of ethic rivalry and nationalism
This readable and well researched study of the Serbian community in Croatia sheds bright light on the political, ethic, and regional rivalries that endure in the tragedy of modern Yugoslavia. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1800-1918    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Croatia    4. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    5. Eastern Europe - Yugoslavia    6. Europe - General    7. History    8. History & Theory - General    9. History - General History    10. History: World    11. Political History    12. Political Process - General    13. Politics and government    14. Serbs    15. European history: from c 1900 -    16. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    17. Political parties    18. c 1900 - c 1914   

Subjects:  1. 1992-    2. 1992-2003    3. Bosnia and Hercegovina    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. General    6. Political Science    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics and government    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Yugoslav War, 1991-1995    11. Yugoslavia    12. Civil war    13. Education / Multicultural Education    14. Ethnic studies    15. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    16. Social Science / Ethnic Studies    17. Yugoslavia & former Yugoslavia    18. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (1)

Generally useful
This is a collection of articles that cover the entire span of the history of the Bosnian Muslims, although the quality of the individual contributions varies greatly. The first three articles, which go from theMiddle Ages to 1878, are unfortunately uninformative and even tedious foranyone who has already done some reading on general Balkan history, andprobably confusing and perhaps overwhelming for those who have no previousknowledge in this field. By far the best piece is the article by thisvolume's editor, Mark Pinson, which covers the period of Austro-Hungarianrule in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1878-1918) and its effects on the Muslimcommunity. This was in fact a very crucial period for the Bosnian Muslims,because as Pinson points out, it was when they first became a politicallyaware as a community, and began to seek new ways to articulate their needs.The final article by Ivo Banac, which covers the twentieth century, is agood survey of Bosnian Muslim political history, but it lacks depth, whichis disappointing given the importance of this period for understandingevents in Bosnia today. There is also a useful, if somewhat dated, appendixfor finding further resources on Bosnia, both in print and on the Web. Thisbook is, thus, a generally useful reference source, but it could and shouldhave been something much more. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Bosnia-Herzegovina    6. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    7. History / Europe / Eastern    8. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    9. Islamic studies   

Subjects:  1. 1918-1945    2. Aleksandar    3. Alexandre I Karageorgevitch    4. Histoire    5. History    6. Hongrie    7. Hungary    8. Yougoslavie    9. Yugoslavia   

Subjects:  1. Balkan Peninsula - History    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Ethnic relations    4. Ethnohistory    5. Europe - General    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Yugoslavia    10. Eastern Europe    11. Europe    12. History / Europe / General    13. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    14. World history