I'm looking for a book that is able to really describe the tragedy of the Balkan war that occured in the early 90s. I have been reading a few things about it recently, and discovered how relatively little I know about what went on there and why it happened, despite being someone who is into history, especially ethnic conflict (though I was only around 12-14 yrs old when the war went on). Mainly I want to have some historical perspective on the different groups that lived there before, how they reacted to and lived under a united Yugoslavia, and what the factors were that led to the post-Cold War breakdown of the nation, and the bloody civil war that ensued there, in contrast to other nations that became independent at that time without engaging in war. Anyways, if anyone has read something like that, I'd appreciate a recommendation. Thanks.
There really is no such book. I've read tons of books on recent Balkan history and I can tell you this much: everybody has an axe to grind. While no history book is free of bias, this topic is one that is extremely controversial and the wounds from that war are still fresh. I don't imagine will see a really good book on the topic for a while. I've read books by Bosnians painting the Serbs & Croats as evil, books by the Croats painting the Serbs & Bosnians evil and you guessed it, books by the Serbs painting the Croats and Bosnians as evil. Even the outside writers are usually choosing sides. I've read books by Americans and from authors from a variety of European countries and they all seem to have an easily detected sympathy to one group or a real disdain for another group. It is a tough topic to understand. I think most the authors are kind of right and kind of wrong. I think all groups in that conflict were guilty of atrocities, just as there were members of all those groups that were good. Basically, there were good Serbs, Croats & Bosnians just like there were bad Serbs, Croats and Bosnians. Unfortunately, the books that have surfaced on the topic don't appear to be even remotely free of bias just yet.
Well, guess I'll have to read several books from different viewpoints and hopefully try to piece things together myself. I was hoping that maybe an outsider would have a slightly better perspective, but often that isn't true either. What books in general would you recommend that are good? Just browsing Amazon.com I'm looking at: Love Thy Neighbor : A Story of War Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation Balkan Tragedy: Chaos and Dissolution After the Cold War
I did a report in 11th grade on the war from a child's perspective in Bosnia. I used Zlata's diary as well as a personal interview with her http://athletics.xu.edu/wbasketball/roster_details.cfm?ros_id=25 It's very eye opening.
I've read several books on the matter, and those that stuck with me the most were Misha Glenny's The Fall of Yugoslavia (which I read while in Croatia!) and Brian Hall's The Impossible Country: A Journey Through the Last Days of Yugoslavia. The former is a good history, and the latter is a good memoir of travels through the area. Misha Glenny's tome The Balkans is also excellent, but it's a pretty big undertaking and is so detailed that, once I finished reading it, I wasn't sure that I remembered much. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_4/104-0666844-8155943?v=glance&s=books http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_8/104-0666844-8155943?v=glance&s=books
This is the only book I've read on the war, but I thought it was excellent. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140298541/inktomi-bkasin-20/ref=nosim/102-5868177-9378539
While amazoning around on this topici splintered off topic and came across this book A Fez of the Heart: Travels around Turkey in Search of a Hat by Jeremy Seal, which just struck me as a pretty funny name for a book. I smell a song for our next usa-turkey game...
I've only read one book on the subject, but man...messed me up for several week. "My War Gone By, I Miss It So," Anthony Lloyd http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/002-2902453-5564002?v=glance&s=books