5 comments about My War Gone By, I Miss It So.

1. A messed up report of a messed up war by one very messed up dude. Sounds more like a drug log than any reporting. The haze of drug abuse makes the atrocities reported more like a drug dream, remote that is, than any reality. Found the book incoherent. For a more coherent report read "Love Thy Neighbors" by Peter Maass.



2. I don't like British people: fokking Beitish. Let me explain. I dislike and despise the Average Joe London, the man of the streets, the Cockney accented bastard; the people from mining towns, the soccer fan mobs, bent on drinking and destroying. To hell with them all. I also intensely dislike the radical democratic, skeptical, agnostic way of thinking responsible for the parliamentary revolutions, reicides, and the collapse of the British Empire: Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Bertrand Russell: hang them all. Now here comes this book, written in that tradition by an eminently unknown journalist. He is a total anti-hero: atheist, drug user, heroine addict, lacking visions and ideals. The only thing I appreciated in the book is his description of his relationship with his father and the few references to the cowardice of the UN during the Bosnian conflict. A few fleeting references to the evil harboring in people's hearts deserved to be developed further. All in all a disappointing book.



3. It is a positively realistic book. I understand his connection between addictions. One in his blood by choice the other not. So to those not capable of digesting the dark observations of this story, stay away. There is a reason people will take vacation to Disney World and not Baghdad. Lets be glad that there are Loyd's who have the stomach to see these things, and the head to write the story.



4. This is an amazing account of a terrible war, and it's beautifully written. If you don't know the background of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, be sure to read a quick history online first to fill you in. But don't let a lack of knowledge of the situation deter you from reading the book - it's incredible.



5. This is Anthony Loyd's first book, an accounting of his somewhat haphazard entry into the world of freelance journalism during the 1990s war in Bosnia. His writing style is alternately informational, amusing, harrowing, ornate and thought-provoking, and I recommend it highly for anyone interested in war reporting that is not jingoistic, self-assured or written in a "I know it all, I have all the answers" fashion. It also furnishes a good overview of the root causes of the Serb-Croat-Muslim nightmare that gripped Europe; it's a confusing and tangled web, but for those of us who don't remember what happened or why, he for the most part successfully explains the sequence of events and the disastrous consequences.
   Loyd's second book, "Another Bloody Love Letter", covers his further adventures as a freelancer in various parts of the world; with his musings on death, the power of addiction, the travails of war and the lure of being in the midst of danger and bloodshed, it's even more well-written and gripping, but both are really fascinating reads.
   In the context of what is happening today in Iraq and other parts of the world, it behooves us to learn what we can about what is really happening on the ground: it is thanks to freelancers like Loyd, his murdered journo friend Kurt Schork, the freelance journalist Steven Vincent, killed in Iraq in 2005, and so many others who risk their lives to report on what they see without having to filter it through the cheesecloth of a major media organization, that we know as much as we do. Read these books. Learn, and never forget what risks people take to get you those stories and photographs in your morning paper.

5 comments about Blood and Vengeance: One Family's Story of the War in Bosnia.

1. Widely acknowledged as one of the best books on the war in Bosnia, Sudetic's book offers a unique insight into the horrors of the Bosnian war. What is it then that separates Sudetic's book from the other books on the war in Bosnia? First, it is extraordinarily well written and highly interesting from the very beginning to the end. It captured my attention from the very moment I started reading it. Even though this book contains almost 400 pages it never becomes boring.
   
   The first section of the book contains a brief yet momentous introduction of the history of Bosnia. It helps explain the root causes of the war in Bosnia, an aspect that will prove invaluable to novice readers on the subject matter. Sudetic then allows the reader to follow one Bosnian family (the Celik family) throughout the entire Bosnian war. As a reader, one inadvertently becomes part of the Celik family; one empathizes with them and shares their deepest emotions and concerns. When the war in Bosnia began, the Celik family fled from their village of Kusupovici to Srebrenica. Srebrenica was by then already under siege and about 40,000 people from the neighbouring villages sought shelter in this little eastern town. Srebrenica was constantly shelled by Bosnian Serb army and only a few U.N. convoys were allowed to enter Srebrenica in order to deliver food and medical supplies to its approximately 40,000 refugees. For three long years Srebrenica's people were isolated from the rest of the world, they had little food, no clean water, electricity and virtually no medical supplies. Diseases and infections were commonplace. People were dying from hunger daily.
   
   Sudetic brilliantly describes the experiences of the Celik's family throughout the war. Will all members of the Celik family manage to survive the war and how will this gruesome war affect their future? What will happen to Paja, Huso, Hiba and Sanela? As a reader, one gets to know their deepest fears, concerns and desires. It is virtually impossible to remain indifferent to their plights when reading the book. Sudetic's book thus stands out from the other literature on the war in Bosnia because it is personal. It is not simply another book about Bosnian people in general, not that there is anything wrong with that. However if you follow one particular family for an extensive period of time you become one with them. You experience their suffering as well as their joy.
   
   As is well known, Srebrenica fell on July 12, 1995 after three years of Serb occupation. What followed in the ensuing days constituted one of the most severe human rights abuses in Europe since World War II. In only a matter of days, Bosnian Serb forces summarily executed approximately 8000 Muslims, one of whom was my grandfather. I remember that day perfectly well and it was one of the worst days of my life. In my opinion, Sudetic provides one of the most detailed accounts of the Srebrenica massacre. Days leading to the massacre are also described in detail. While 8000 Muslims were being slaughtered before the eyes of the entire international community, the U.N. did nothing to stop the bloodshed despite the fact that Srebrenica had been designated a "safe area". In point of fact, the U.N. was completely indifferent to the plight of these people. Sudetic explains this well and also provides numerous documents that corroborate this fact. The U.N. was in fact authorized to order air strikes against Bosnian Serb army but deliberately chose not to do that because they did not want to "exacerbate" the conflict. Instead, they gave Serbs the green light to kill 8000 Muslims and to expel all women and children. The Muslims who were trying to escape from Srebrenica to Tuzla were frequently ambushed by Bosnian Serb army; many of them never made it to Tuzla.
   
   Sudetic further provides a comprehensive account of the atrocities that took place in Srebrenica after the town was overrun by Bosnian Serb army. Muslim men were taken to different locations to be shot. Those who survived have been able to testify about these heinous atrocities. Hurem Suljic had been taken to a meadow along with other Muslim men. Bosnian Serb army then opened fire and one man fell on Suljic. Suljic remained there motionless until the executioners left the site. Another man had also survived the massacre and together the two men managed to escape. Hurem Suljic later testified that the Muslim prisoners were tortured; some had their throats slashed while others were hit on their heads by an axe or a hammer.
   
   Sudetic's book thus gives us a comprehensive and well researched account of the Bosnian war. I have one problem with this book though and that is a flawed and sometimes biased analysis of Bosnian Muslims. When describing Bosnian Muslims, Sudetic frequently relies on the life of the Muslims who lived in the countryside. Sudetic sometimes wrongly assumes that this way of life is characteristic of the entire Islamic community throughout Bosnia. For example, the Muslims who lived in the countryside frequently dressed in "dimije" (traditional clothing for Muslim women of the countryside) and they sometimes covered their heads. One gets the impression that Bosnian Muslims are a primitive people. However, for the overwhelming majority of the urban Muslims this way of life was obsolete and atavistic. Most Muslim women who lived in urban societies dressed and behaved as any contemporary woman of the West. Furthermore, according to one of the foremost experts on the history of Bosnia Noel Malcolm, Bosnian Muslims were among the most secularized Muslims in the world. Therefore, one must conclude that Sudetic's description of Bosnian Muslims is misleading and inadequate.
   
   Aside from this minor shortcoming, this is irrefutably the best book about the war in Bosnia. It is an extraordinarily well written account of the Srebrenica massacre. There are many brilliant books about the war in Bosnia but Sudetic's book stands out from the rest for the following reason: it involves the reader in the story in a way you never thought possible. It makes you angry, happy, sad, agitated and devoid of hope at the same time.
   
   A masterpiece!



2. If we were to take off away the virulent bias of this book and just leave the details of the families struggle we might have a wonderful book. The wiritng is superb, the characters are deep and portrayed well, the history however is deeply flawed. The central theme of this book is that Milosevic conspired to steal land and in doing so launched a war that destroyed the Balkans. We are told the Tudjman, Croatias Catholic president was his 'ally'. THis is however not proven by the burden of history. Tudjmans army rampaged through Bosnia and slaughtered and ethnically cleansed serbs as well as muslims.
   
   We are told here that the idea that the conflict was base don ehtnicity was a scam, which is interesting considering it was the west, like this author, who created the myth of ethnicity and 'ethnic cleansing' in the Balkans. However it is true the conflict is not based solely on land, but rather the diverse nature of the region, with Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims and in this war it was as common for the catholics to be brutal to the orthodox christians as for eithe rto brutalize the muslims.
   
   This book presents a one sided story, a story where Serbs are portrayed not as people but animals and in this books attempt to dehumanize them we see the same ethnic hatred that the book claims doesnt exist. If it was about land then why must this book only tell one side and pretend that half the party to this conflict were wilde beasts and not humans, thinking and breathing like others.
   
   As a tale and as a novella this ia masterful account. it is not history and the judgements on the history of the region either lack understanding or are based on myth.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman
   
   
   



3. The book is confusing because the wars were confusing. The names present difficulties in the manner of a Russian novel. There is a chart of the main characters. It is extensive. By 1993 the author was in his fifth year in Bosnia reporting on the conflict for THE NEW YORK TIMES. Traveling through Bosnia's mountains as a student had been an adventure. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were uprooted in Bosnia by Serb forces. In 1995 the author learned through television reports of Serbian army attacks on Srebrenica. He decided to seek a month's leave to return to Bosnia to see family members, the Celiks.
   
   Huso Celik had raised his family in eastern Bosnia. Latin had been the language of the Drina valley at the time of the Roman Empire. Later the Roman roads fell into disrepair and the Slavic language replaced the Latin. Ottoman Turks invaded in the fourteenth century. The Serbs threw off Ottoman domination in 1804. By 1875 the Ottoman Empire was bankrupt. Hasan Celik, born 1908, never learned to read. Huso Celik was born in 1941. During World War II there were two resistance groups in Yugoslavia, one headed by Tito. In the fall of 1947 Serb teachers taught the peasants on Mt. Zvijezda, the ancestral home of the Celiks. Half the people killed in Yugoslavia in World War II had been killed by each other. This was passed over in the Titoist revisionist history of the war. Social prosperity was introduced. A restored minaret was opened in 1959. In Tito's army national service duty took place outside of a soldier's home area. Huso went to central Serbia and served with Croats, Muslims, Slovenians, ethnic Albanians. Subsistence farmers of Mt. Zvijezda became wage earners. Serbs went to Belgrade, Muslims to Sarajevo. Huso worked for a construction company. In his spare time he played his clarinet. In 1974 Yugoslavia recognized Slavic Muslims as a constitutional nation. By the late 1980's the young men had left the mountain to find jobs. Having televisions, the people watched the Cold War ending. That Yugoslavia was coming apart had been in evidence for years. Workers pilfered, Serbs were hot-tempered, Slovenians demanded free elections. Economic breakdown, (there was massive embezzlement), became clear to everyone.
   
   Milosevic rose in the Communist bureaucracy and took control. The Croats, Albanians, Slovenes, Muslims saw the emerging Serb hegemony. Nationalist euphoria swept over Serbia. The author and his wife Ljiljuana moved to Yugoslavia to report for THE NEW YORK TIMES. Belgrade was dusty. Ljiljana's sister Gordana Celik and her husband Hamed Celik, (Huso's son), lived nearby. Slovenia and Croatia elected non-Communist governments. Milosevic sought to expand Serbia. There were Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia. Tudjman in Croatia antagonized the Serb minority. Nationalism spread to Bosnia. It was forty percent Muslim. Karadzic headed the Serbian party in Bosnia. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in 1991. In 1991 Milosevic overran Vukovar.
   
   A month before the Bosnian War began in 1992 the author and Hamed saw Huso. A month later Huso had a second heart attack and there was talk of war everywhere. After the Vance-Owen Plan was conceived, the Commander of the UN in Bosnia was General Philippe Morillon. He was no match for General Ratko Mladic, Commander of the Bosnia-Serb Army.
   
   Celik family members are pictured in July 1995 at a tent city at the Tuzla Airport following the fall of Srebrenica. Hiba Celik is shown near the ruins of her house in 1997. By 1993 Srebrenica had become a diplomatic nightmare to officials working on the Bosnian problem. Srebrenica was swelled with refugees in addition to inhabitants and everyone depended upon humanitarian aid. It was both a Muslim enclave and a UN safe area when Mladic sought to close down entry points and choke-off supplies. NATO bombs fell, Serb forces shelled safe areas. There was hostage-taking. After the fall of Srebrenica Muslim men were called out and transported out of the area. Some were killed, and others were held, it was said, for the purposes of a prisoner exchange. Action from Croatia caused some abatement of Serbian aggressive action. Some of the Celik family members were able to move to Canada and begin a new life.
   
   The author has engaged in a tremendous undertaking to trace the fortunes of war through the experiences of family members. He certainly makes the reader feel the pain of the conflict.



4. A very personalized account of the many forces that were in motion. Masterful storytelling, making the transitions for the major national participants to one peasant family's struggles is technically very difficult, the fact that the author was able to do so shows his skill as a writer.



5. Good writing and a good story. However, this is blatantly anti-Serb. Chuck seems to want to portray the Serbs as bloodthirsty animals and the Muslims as weak innocents. I was rooting for the Serbs by the end of the book because they had so much going against them yet they still pushed on with their goals.

5 comments about Red Storm over the Balkans: The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944 (Modern War Studies).

1. Glantz was not well-served by his editors here; they chose the provocative title and Glantz throughout maintains this as some sort of 'lost' campaign that 'he found'. As the prior reviewer from Vienna stated, it's not so 'lost'. Targul-Frumos has been the subject of lectures and papers at US military academies and in technical journals from both sides since the late 1940's. So Glantz does overstate that point.
   What Glantz does achieve is a unique synthesis of the diverse sources and he analyzes them skillfully. He puts it all together and gives it context that no other Eastern Front historian had yet done, just as he did with 'Operation Mars'. Unfortunately, the reviewer from Vienna is right about the small number of mistakes and, indeed, there are a few more than he cited. Editors let Glantz down there as well. They exist to pick up those little typos or tiny mis-statements. Like Glantz's other books, it reads a little dry, but I overlook that and give him five stars for the skill and value of his presentation and analysis. Not perfect but VERY needed.



2. OK, up front we all admit that David Glantz knows more about WWII on the Eastern Front than any other person alive. That said, this is operational military history at its worst. An endless barrage of corps & division numbers, grouping letters, directions of attacks & campaigns, etc., etc. The whole thing reads like an over-long after action report prepared by a junior officer who never took a liking to writing coherent narrative essays. There is no political context discussed in this book, nor is there discussion about weapons, weaponery, personalities, etc. Sure, its authoritative, but does that mean it has to be such a drudge to get through? I put this book down half-way through and read 4-5 other books before I worked up the patience to tackle this to its finish.



3. Being an avid student of the Russo-German war and having a few hundred books on the subject, ranging from detailed German unit histories to books with a wide scope like those by Earl Ziemke, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this book as it promised to fill a gap in my knowledge of the Eastern Front. I was also worried, because I have all the books by Glantz and they can be divided into three categories: boring and unreadable (whenever he focuses on Russian sources; example: The Battle for Lvov), extremely interesting and well written (because they offer new information and new insights; example: Zhukov's greatest defeat) and books that offer a bit of both (example: When Titans Clashed). This latest book, I am afraid, falls into the last category. After reading it my first impulse was to rip out the first 150 pages. Being a book lover I did not do this of course, but still... In this first third of the book Glantz describes, no sorry, lists, units, commanders (boring the reader to tears) and actually describes what is on the maps!! Any editor worth his salt should have told Glantz to stop babbling and refer the material to an appendix or (in case of the battle dispositions) refer to the maps.
   On the plus side: mainly thanks to German sources, the book does offer new information about the Red Army's failed spring campaign, which in the end is why I am still glad that I bought the book. If, like me, you want to know more about the fighting around Targul Frumos or the Dnjestr bridgeheads, I am afraid you will have to buy this book. Hence three stars (just sufficient).
   However, I really hope that for Glantz' next few books somebody with common sense will sift through the material and make Glantz realise that, ultimately, a book should not only contain lots of information but first and foremost be READABLE! As a writer about the war myself as well as a voracious reader I think I know what I am talking about. Glantz can give me a call any day of the week for some free advice.
   
   Jack Didden



4. Glantz's books differ quite significantly in quality. Of the eight I have read, this was the worst. The writing is relatively poor, and features a lot of repetition, with little flow or tension. It feels rushed. The book is crying out for a good editor to really clean it up. The history, of course, is excellent as always. But I would recommend his operational studies of Mars and Kursk before this one. They are both excellent.



5. This guy is simply the best military writer i've ever read.
   At my age, i need a magnifying glass for the maps. That's my one objection, but i assume younger people will have no problem. This is another Glantz special: an utterly fantastic detailed miltary description of the initial Soviet attempt to invade Romania. These books must be a godsend for the companies that make wargames. After reading Glantz books, i feel like becoming a wargame designer myself! If you're into the movements of armies, corps, divisions, this book is heaven. The maps are great (though i wish they were bigger!)
   If you want to read about the "personal" or "human interest" side of war, don't buy this book, there's nothing in it for you. It's also not for the casual military reader, it's very detailed.
   I only wish some of Glantz' other publications werent so darned expensive; i'd own them all.
   He's simply the best military writer i've ever read.

5 comments about Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War.

1. This book showed how terrible the War in Bosnia really was. The media failed to show us the bloodbath that it became. I am sorry that we as a nation did not do more to help the Muslims in Bosnia. Whether we are Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Atheist we have a moral responsibility to help defend a small country from genocide. The shocking truth in this book opened my eyes but it also deeply depressed me. One is tempted to give up hope in the face of such monstrous reality. We live in a very unpredictable, hostile, and politically unstable world and Peter Maass shows just how evil it can get.



2. This is a fascinating book. Unfortunately the author has a habit of referencing other books (most notably Black Lamb Grey Falcon and Catch-22) far too often, usually just when you've lost youself in the book. His insight and explanations of what he experienced are great but they often stray back and forth in time. This sometimes gets a little hard to follow. All of these could be cured with just a little editing. Other than that the only problem I had with the book is that I wanted to know more of his experiences.



3. I have a confession to make - I am guilty of ignorance.
   
   While in 1992 I was taking my first trip to Europe, falling in love for the first time, getting my introduction to Pentecostalism and learning to live, people were being exterminated only several hundred miles away from me.
   While I was going into my fourth year of high school education in Bulgaria, boys and girls my age were being raped and tortured and murdered and it took me 15 years to find that out. How is it that I knew nothing about that war? How is it I never paid attention to the news, never took interest in what was happing in Bosnia? How? How come I turned a blind eye to the grizzly events occurring in a land where people spoke Slavic language similar to my own, had features similar to mine, shared history similar to the one of my county? How can I have been so ignorant of the genocide in Bosnia?
   
   Then, in the winter of 1992 I came to the United States and looking back now I find I wasn't the only one guilty of ignorance. For three years (1992-1995) United Nations, countries like Britain, France, Russia and of course, the USA, looked to resolved the conflict by ignoring the direct problem in the region. Peaceful solution is what everyone was talking about and looking for, and all the while men, women, and children died by torture, by fire, by knives to their throats. Over 200,000 people. 200,000 died in this conflict and having read Peter Maass' book I feel disgusted with myself, with humanity in general.
   
   I suspect there were hundreds of other conflicts that occurred and I missed. I know there were many more that history sheltered away from humanity and perhaps I'll never learn about their victims, but having read this book and having learned of the dangerous games politicians and people with power played, I'm left with a nauseating feeling of shame. Shame for being a human and for possessing the realization that evil is something people grow inside, something they cultivate and feed of. For all of our 100,000 years of civilization we have nothing to show except death, destruction and deceit. Is this what we should be proud of? Is this the meaning of life?
   
   I recommend this book to everyone. It's hard to find stories out there that are so open, so raw, so real in their context that make readers seriously wonder what society, civilization, morality and ethics really mean. Mr. Maass, thank you for being so honest.
   
   -by Simon Cleveland



4. "Love they neighbor" caught my eye as it was supposed to cover a topic of which I have great interest. I have devoured about 20 books on the most recent Balkan's war and I have actually traveled to the region on two occasions since fighting started/ended. I found this book to be a failure both artistically and in the realm of journalistic confirmation..
   It is not the author's biases which I have issue with; it is much more the child like way that issues are presented. The author makes the history of the region seem to be irrelevant and then makes snap judgment. As we know from WWI, WWII, the Cold War etc...the history of the Balkans makes it a unique geographic area. To ignore the expansion of the Ottomans, the 1st and 2nd Balkans War as well as WWII....well it just shows the "Ugly American" side of this Author." I would go into more detail, however I would say that besides the grandiose vocabulary used in the book....I would rate this piece at the 9th grade level....at best. There are far more interesting and intriguing pieces written on this era.. I found this book far too simple and bereft of history which makes the writings irrelevant. If you want to read a far better book I recommend. " My War is gone and I miss it so...." Or any book written by Misha Glenny more worthy of a read.



5. Peter Maass writes with the utmost compassion for such a tragic story of suffering. Somehow, he sifts through it all and manages to find sense in it and presents it in a very thoughtful, sensitive way.

5 comments about Kosovo: War and Revenge.

1. 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.

   Judah is a Balkan expert, who speaks numerous languages (including Serbo-Croatian and Albanian) and has written several articles for many newspapers and magazines throughout the world. His previous book ("The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia" [New Haven, 1997 and 2000]) put the Bosnian war into its proper context, while the current puts Kosovo into its respective context. The first chapter is a short, condensed history of Kosovo leading up to the end of the Second World War, while the next sizable portion of the book details key events and personalities throughout the 1980s and 1990s that shaped modern-day Kosovo and unwittingly turned it toward a war-path. Judah discusses the outbreaks of violence in late 1997, the failed efforts of Western diplomats in stopping the bloodshed, a critical and thrilling chapter chronicling the failed Rambouillet peace accords in February 1999, a chapter chronicling NATO's 78-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, and the aftermath of Kosovo's tragic conflict: vengeful Albanians returning home and killing Serbs and Roma.

   Integral to Judah's work is his assessment of NATO's conduct in the conflict. His thesis is that the entire war was one of "human error," where Western diplomats foolishly believed that they could make Serbia's Milosevic back down within one week. Milosevic, on the other hand, believed NATO to be bluffing and took the alleged bluff. Tensions mounted within the NATO alliance, other world superpowers (in the military sense, aka. Russia and China) began bracing themselves for toil with the US, while Albanian and Serb civilians were either massacred or blown up by NATO's firepower. Totally unprepared of what to expect, NATO carried out blunder after blunder, failed to stop massacres in Kosovo and perhaps made the Balkans even more tense and unstable than before.

   It is imperative that readers consult Judah's work for every meticulous detail surrounding Kosovo's recent history. Readers should consult other recent works in understanding Kosovo's ancient past to determine if Serbs really have rightful historical claims to the province, for Judah's first chapter is merely a primer. Of course, there are those critics out there that will cite, as I mentioned in another review, that Judah is not a "professional historian." It is likely that his knowledge, experience and excellent writing style makes his book more valuable and a much better, thrilling and informative read than the work of any academic.




2. 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.

   The dirty secrets of this conflict are touched upon: the recruitment of hardcore criminals to become members of MUP (interior ministry police who were tapped to murder civilians and suspected terrorists), the elaborate chain of command that Milosevic worked while avoiding any paperwork that could tie him directly to any war crimes, the flat out aggression by NATO against the civilian population of Serbia, the heightened humanitarian crisis that the bombing actually produced, etc.

   While the Serbs are generally the Nazis of the 90s during the Balkan wars, with the Kosovo conflict it is Milosevic who begins to bear the brunt of the blame, while the Serb people are hapless bystanders punished for their support of a de facto dictator whose cynicism sealed his own fate.

   The Kosovo war is beginning to take on a strange tint. The 'humanitarian' reasons for the war are suspect at best. The massive NATO bombing helped escalate the waves of violence on boths sides. It also helped them slap together a hasty indictment against Milosevic and his top brass, all charged with war crimes that occurred after NATO started dropping bombs on their heads. Go figure. Meanwhile, it was known from the outset that no ground troops would ever enter Kosovo or Serbia, so there was an expected rise in the ethnic cleansing.

   What's interesting is also the cover. It shows the side of a building with a massive hole, the kind usually produced by bombing. Peering out is an Albanian man, suggesting that the 'humanitarian intervention' is, of course, anything but.

   Perhaps not stressed enough is the wealth of disinformation about the conflict itself. The number of suspected dead was grossly exaggerated, the damage done to the Yugoslav army grossly exaggerated, and the overall success of the war completely questionable. Is it humanitarian intervention to blow apart a country from above while exacerbating the crisis you claim to be reversing? In many ways, Kosovo was a manufactured war against a trumped-up bogeyman. In a post 9/11 world, does this sound familiar?

   The war did not solve the Kosovo issue, far from it. Its product was revenge killings of Serbs who had lived in the province for generations, while giving legitimacy to glorified terrorist organizations like the KLA, which officially disbanded, only to appear in modified form later, attacking people in Serbia proper while the UN stood around and watched. It also strained relations between the US and Russia and with China. It was a heavily protested war in Europe, and it didn't help when the Chinese Embassy was blown up 'accidentally' when it was clearly marked on common street maps of Belgrade. Oops! With characteristic contempt for international law, Clinton had his own war of aggression.

   Of interest in this book are the accounts of some of the murderers, who speak in frank terms about their job. Overall, this is a better piece of work than the distorted book, Serbs.




3. This is a worthy exposé on the conflict in Kosovo. This work includes some provocative ideas as to Kosovo, and the numerous other conflagrations across the world, e.g.
   
   ü ...much of the Kosovo conflict can be related to the fact that too many Serbs have never been willing or able to rid themselves of the idea that the Albanians, with whom they shared a state for the best part of a century, were not to be treated as equals. P 16
   ü Serbian and Albanian propagandists now went to war armed with statistics, lies and half-truths, which far from helping either side in the long-run, were to embitter communal relations, pave the way for the rise of Milosevic, the destruction of Yugoslavia and the deaths of tens of thousands. Pp 43-44
   ü ...many Kosovars successfully convinced many Westerners that the question of Kosovo was really one of human rights. In fact it was not. P 84
   ü ...the police were not trained as specialists anti-insurgency fighters and so they had no idea how to take on a vastly popular guerrilla movement without driving out the village populations who gave them shelter and burning their houses. P 167
   
   Hopefully, this book along with others will spark an interest and further study into solutions to current and future state of affairs involving low intensity conflict and law enforcement.
   
   ü Despite this grim picture, it is also undeniable that huge progress has also been made. Serbs and Albanians are both being trained together for a new Kosovo Police Service.
   ü Diplomacy is often viewed as a rather impersonal affair, in which men and women represent their countries and, in that sense, are all interchangeable. In fact, diplomacy is like anything else and personalities, contacts and friendships all count for something. P 275
   ü ...optimistic UNMIK officials say that the future of Kosovo is `a process' which has only just begun. Citing the examples of Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel and the Palestinians, one said that, before any talks began, it would be `difficult and unnecessary to focus on the endgame'. P 301



4. Definitely the best book about Kosovo conflict 1998-1999, although it goes briefly through the entire Kosovo's history with increasing coverage as the time is progressing. The book treats fairly Albanian and Serb side.



5. Perhaps nothing explains more about the reason for the war in Kosovo then a chart on page 313 showing the population change in Serbia from 1948 to 1991. The Albanian population ballooned from 498,242 to 1,606,690 while the Serb population barely budged from 171,911 to 195,301. Two groups, one Muslim the other Christian, old rivals, each claiming the tradition and ownership of Serbia. During World War II the Serbs sided with the allies inspiring many as the "Serbian David standing up to the Austro-Hungarian-German Goliath." Meanwhile the Albanians took up with the Axis gaining, "an unenviable reputation, apparently preferring rape, pillage and murder to fighting, particularly in Serbian areas". The Albanians managed to appall even the Nazi's (if that seems possible) who eventually disarmed them. Is it surprising that a people who were savaged in the past would fear and loathe a group that was so decidedly winning the population war?
   
   It takes a bit of the book to get your bearings what with Albania and Kosovo and Serbia and Bosnia and Montenegro and on and on. It all becomes very confusing but basically it boils down to the Albanians and Serbians reveling in abusing each other whenever the opportunity arises. It's an age old battle with each side claiming ownership of the same piece of land. In this particular conflict the Albanians started by taking a Gandhi like tact of passive resistance towards the Serbian abuses unfortunately this was a failure and in Srebrenica, Bosnia 8000 Muslim men were massacred creating a popular guerilla movement.
   
   I can remember how, after the NATO bombing ended, Slobodan Milosevic was described as a modern day Hitler but the author paints a very different picture. The author writes, "When trying to comprehend Milosevic it is vital to understand that the man has no long-term vision. His main interest is power and keeping it." Apparently Milosevic was more of a tin-pot dolt than a master strategist with his biggest blunder being the deporting of hundreds of thousands of Kosovars. Thinking that NATO was bluffing about bombing would run a close second. There were no grand designs or extra-regional desires. Milosevic was more a product of desperation.
   
   In the end the NATO bombing forced Milosevic from power and now he's dead but the questions remain. Was it right to use NATO against a sovereign country which had not attacked any of them without a Security Council mandate? The Serbians had suffered at the hands of the Albanians and thus took revenge until NATO stepped in but afterwards almost a quarter of a million Serbs and others were forced to flee or find themselves ethnically cleansed. It was the Serbs who were now having their homes burned and their churches looted. The author writes, "While Albanians take their revenge today, the time may come for the Serbs to take theirs" So what was achieved in the end? As the author wrote the biggest lesson of Kosovo may be that no lessons were learned. It's just one more bloody example of ethnic hatred and revenge added to a very long list.

2 comments about With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia.

1. I very much enjoyed this book. The author covers individual serbs. She displays a deep effection for the people of Serbia. The book profiles by chapter ordinary people and politicians and journalists. I thought the author did a good job of covering a wide collection of perspectives, a Titoist, a follower of Milosovich, a democratic reformer, a wheeler/dealer/con man, a journalist. I thougth the portrait of the rock singer was the most engaging. Very nice read and I thought presented a human face to a country that in the west is vastly misunderstood.



2. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like more insight into the conflict in the Balkans. Being of Serbian/Croation/Czech descent, I spent my childhood years (in the 50s and 60s) listening to tales of "Yugoslavia" from my grandparents. Reading this book took me back to those days and also gave me an insight into what has happened to the country since then from the viewpoint of "average" people in Serbia. The bottomline is: all people are really the same; they want to contribute, they want to raise families and all are at the mercy of their governments who many times make decisions that affect the people in a negative way. Read it and you'll see yourselves no matter where you're from.

4 comments about Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad.

1. Having spend years in the Balkans, I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in seeing the role that Bosnia played in the growth of the world wide Islamic extremist movement. Quite simply, this is a MUST read and takes its rightful place next to Evan F Kohlmann's book on this topic. This book tells the side of the story that CNN and the rest of the world's media never bothered to cover.



2. The U.S. attacks a sovereign nation, whose leaders are not threatening them, in an effort to export democracy to yet another foreign nation and protect its people from genocide. No, we're not talking about Iraq! This time we go after the Serbs. Specifically, Serbs living in the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia referred to as 'Bosnian Serbs'. Surprisingly, there is no anti-war movement here in America. The 11 member NATO alliance lead by the U.S. mercilessly bombs the Bosnian Serbs into submission. Where are the war protesters that we hear so much of these days?
   
   The time frame is the early to mid 90's. 9/11 has yet to assault our senses. Bill Clinton is president. Islamic Bosnia is hailed as a bastion of multiculturalism. Darlings of the western media mercilessly preyed upon by the evil ethnic-cleansing Serbs whose obvious motives of protecting their own in a country splintering itself from the Yugoslav Republic seems to go unnoticed. Did anyone question why the Serbs would've acted so heavy-handedly? Could there have been any provocation?
   
   Schindler draws the picture thusly: Bosnian leader, Alija Izetbegovic, a man determined to bring an Islamic state into Balkan Bosnia, decides to secede from the Yugoslav Republic. He recruits Mujahidin fighters from Al-Qa'ida, fresh from the skirmish with the Russians in Afghanistan, and begins an ethnic cleansing of his own to drive out the infidel Serbs and create a 'pure Islamic culture'. We see the typical Muslim atrocities: executions, beheadings, munitions trafficking, corruption, using charitable organizations as fronts for financing the war. All the while, Izetbegovic maintains that he is fighting for a multi-cultural Bosnia. And just as the Serbs respond to these atrocities, here comes the western media. Just in time to get footage of the Serbs 'getting even'. The slaughter at Srebrenica, seen by many as proof of Serbia's culpability for war crimes, is presented as a 'set up'. Izetbegovic pulls his military protection from the city just as the Serbian response is anticipated. The Muslim citizens are set up for slaughter in order to justify a U.S. lead NATO response as promised by President Clinton.
   
   Given the events that have transpired since then, Schindler's view is not hard to believe. In fact, it is difficult not to believe it these days with what we now know of Al-Qa'ida and their operations. Yes there will always be die-hard Clinton supporters who will continue to support the 'Bosnia-as-good-guys' view. But it is beginning to look more and more like we may have made a mistake in the Balkans. The Dayton accords, while partitioning Bosnia into Bosnian, Croat, and Serb zones, has given Izetbegovic what he wanted: An Islamic state. And Al-Qa'ida now has a base in the middle of Europe from which it can launch operations. I think you get the picture.
   
   The author's material is well researched and not particularly anti-Muslim. Muslim citizens are often portrayed as much as victims as the Serbs in some cases. Islamic leaders often question and even oppose Izetbegovic's policies and his courting of Al-Qa'ida. He even occasionally debunks myth's about Muslim behavior at various points. All in all it is an interesting read though somewhat voluminous. Keeping track of the number of characters and organizations and such can be quite maddening. Still it is a worthwhile read: Four stars.



3. Recently several books came out shedding a different light on the Bosnian War of 1992-1995. Most authors are people with mentality and the perception of reality based on the morality of the modern Western society. It looks like they don't have an axe to grind and the only reason urged them to write the books running counter to the mass media presentation, the official political course and the widespread academic interpretation of the Bosnian War was objectivity built on the whole of the facts, not just on a "convenient" part of them. As a Latin maxim says - Non Nova, Sed Nove. I chose the book "Unholy Terror" to read first because of the phrase the author mentioned in Introduction namely, "...spend time in muddy boots in war zone" - what he just did. The second reason was that he is a researcher who was trained to be a spy. This means that the author has acquired and developed the strong ability to gather, analyze, classify facts establishing logical connections between them and deduce the corresponding conclusions. The third reason was the long list of sources he used which penmen range from Bosnian Christians and Muslims to Western writers. So the thorough unbiased research was conducted. And the last reason was that it seems the author doesn't have any Bosnian family roots and thus he is a neutral observer.
   
   To my eye the book is the very comprehensive research on the subject encompassing the period of time from the Ottoman Empire to the modern era. The material is presented in a consistent and intelligible as for experts so for laypersons way and accompanied by numerous quotations and references to the sources. The author doesn't arbitrary pick some facts from the conflict. He begins his account from the 14th century when in fact the conflict originated alternating active phases with dormant spans. (Being a teenager I visited the Tito's Yugoslavia of 1970th many times and already then I learnt that the tranquil and prosperous life is nested in a seething volcano.) As a result due to the rigorously logic chain of historical causes and consequences constructed by the author the entire picture of the clash of the civilizations and religions over centuries is more than convincing.
   
   Why did I decide to review the book? Honestly speaking as I understand it now I have been indirectly and involuntarily involved in this matter from my birth, because my father was a Bosnian Serb. Being 16 years old he joined the Tito's army during the 2nd World War and took part in several great battles including the liberation of Belgrade. Later he went through many controversial events of that turbulent epoch.
   
   Now I am already aware that in our hi-tech times it still matters very much who are or were your parents implying their religion, race and ethnicity. I was born and raised in Russia, received my education in Russia and France. The only one thing I have been devoted to all my life is mathematics. I hold a PhD in it. And I naively thought that in our civilized society people are, first of all, judged by their personal and professional qualities. But it was a schoolboy blunder. If in our modern world, we are so proud of, some nation is defamed and you have any relation to it be sure that in the overwhelming number of cases this will reflect on your destiny negatively disregarding your personal and professional attributes. Embrace yourself at least for discrimination or even worse for dirty tricks and hounding. Unfortunately the contemporary social and political machine of our society works just this way despite all official statements. In reality this is neither more nor less but the smoke-and-mirrors world where we try to defend the human rights of individuals and trample on the ones of the entire nation at the same time. Watching movies on TV soaked through with violence, murders and graphic scenes I often wonder whether America is still capable of having such basic feelings as compassion, pity and understanding for the tears of other peoples or just guided by mere calculation and some primordial instincts.
   
   In a conclusion I would like to thank the author for his excellent book and audacious act.



4. To see that this book is based on propaganda and is a sad attempt to make money based on twisting the truth, go to Bosnia to see for yourself. I was there for nine years as part of SFOR, the NATO led peacekeeping mission and it is safe to say this book is really way off.

2 comments about Hunting the Tiger: The Fast Life and Violent Death of the Balkans' Most Dangerous Man.

1. This book gives a voice to all of the innocent people slaughtered at the hands of Arkan. It reveals the absurdity of those who are still blind to the horrific deeds that he left behind as his legacy.
   The author has clearly taken great risks to bring this story to us. I applaud this book. I recommend it to anyone seeking further insight into what went on in the Balkans in recent years. And let this book serve as a reminder to the brutal outcomes of our tendencies toward war, racism, nationalism and hero-worship. Bravo!!



2. We have all had at least one of those moments when we know we have made a really big mistake and we may well die from it. Somehow, we survive, rescued by the least likely or sources.
   
   In "Hunting the Tiger," invesigative reporter, Chris Stewart takes us through some of his terrifying moments and leads us into the the horrifying and riveting story of "Arkan," a bank robber and racketeer who murderously rode the troubled waters of Yugoslavia to a violent end as a "rock star" war criminal.
   
   For me, a retired judge, with military experience and time in Cambodia and Iraq, the book is not only a "page turner" but also a remarkable reflection of how vulnerable any culture can be to one determined and sober sociopath. Arkan's story is unfortunately by no means unique, but the fact that Stewart had the courage and the intiative to tell it is unique. The lessons in "Hunting the Tiger" will stay with me--sometimes, even in my dreams.

5 comments about Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995.

1. A graphic novel that reveals the history of the Bosnian war and cleansing of Muslims and Crotians by the Serbs.Novel is by Joe Sacco a Journalist and cartoonist. He also has writtin other graphic novels.



2. I just finished reading this brilliant work. I was in Eastern Europe in 1991-1993 and saw the refugees coming out of Bosnia. I followed the story as close as I could, even visting a refugee camp. But Sacco's illustrations put me on the ground in the supposed safe zones. The brutality of the supposedly Christian Serbs to Muslim Bosnians is so overwheliming it makes any beheadings in Iraq look like a birthday party in comparison.
   
   The book also does a nice job giving the history of the war, including the role Clinton played, for those who don't remember the 1990s. Please rread this book. You can do it in a day.



3. Joe Sacco, Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 (Fantagraphics, 2002)
   
   Joe Sacco's spent some time in Gorazde after things calmed down a bit over there-- got to know the people, talked to them a lot, blended in with the scenery. He drew them, related their words, drew the things they saw and experienced day to day. Safe Area Gorazde is the result.
   
   If you're used to either the current spate of war memoirs or the current spate of graphic novels, Safe Area Gorazde will likely seem familiar, yet still somewhat out of place. It is a book that resides comfortably in neither category, but I can't quite call it a successful cross of the two; it's too narrative for graphic noveldom, while being too impressionist to really classify as a war memoir. This is not to say that the book is bad by any means; there is a great deal to be absorbed here, and given the short shrift received by the plight of Gorazde as it was happening in the American press, far more Americans should be absorbing it than already have. Sacco has a gentle, self-deprecating humor, and the kind of ear that turns even the most unpleasant interviewee into a sympathetic character. As well, while most of Sacco's drawings are straightforward-- there are an almost unsettling number of scenes in this book featuring a single character against a monochrome background, as if being interviewed on a talk show (or up against a wall being faced by a firing squad)-- every once in a while one pops out that makes you realize that, yes, there's a war going on in Gorazde as Sacco is conducting these interviews. The scarcity of the out-and-out brutal pictures makes them all the more effective in Sacco's pastiche of desperation, loss, and ever-present gallows humor.
   
   Good stuff, this. ***



4. Having been to Bosnia after the war, its really nice to see this perspective and form of journalism. Joe Sacco's work in this book is brilliant, and this is by far his best work. The feel of life in the country, and the anxiety of life in this period is really well represented. I love the personal face that comes alive here with Joe's various stories from the friends that he has made along his journey.



5. First, the bad news: "Safe Area Goradze" is bleak, depressing and unrelentingly sad. It is the true tale of the horrible suffering of the Muslim population of the ever-so-ironically designated "Safe Area" of Goradze, a city in the former country of Yugoslavia during that nation's recent civil war and breakup. The combination of the author's drawings and prose work together to tell the gruesome story of a real life hell on Earth in brutal, unflinching, unblinking detail. It's the graphic novel equivalent of "Schindler's List". If you buy this book, steel yourself. It's not an easy read.
   
   Nevertheless, I think Joe Sacco is a genius who is to be commended for telling a story that cries out to be told. I'm sure his editors warned him that this story was not one that would be a big seller. The arcane politics of the former Yugoslavia, which Sacco does a masterful job of explaining, don't interest many people. And the subject matter is depressing and gruesome in the extreme. Nevertheless, he wrote and illustrated the graphic novel, and Fantagraphics Books is to be applauded for publishing it. Hopefully, this work will serve as the historical record of the awful torments inflicted upon human beings in a particular time and place, leaving wounds physical and psychic that will take generations to heal.

5 comments about The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers, 1804-1999.

1. The Balkans: Nationalism, War & The Great Powers, 1804-1999 of Misha Glenny is an excellent history book. It opens the eyes for the circumstances that stay hidden in traditional history books. The European history education is entirey focussed on Western and Southern countries, while the Balkan was extremely important in the development of Europe and the position of communism. Thanks to Misha Glenny we can take notice of this and chance our view on European history.
   
   Drs. M.W.J. van Hout
   The Netherlands



2. 
   I found this book to be informative of the tensions that plague the Balkans. Unlike many other commentators, Glenny does not ascribe those tensions to the "inherent nature" of the combatants. Instead, he takes great pains to show how Balkan actors have been rather dynamic in their alliances and their agendas.
   
   In addition, Glenny uses a writing style that allows his coverage of events to coherently flow from one major incident to the next. He divides the books into numerous chapters, each based on a broad theme. He then supports each theme with historical accounts from specific Balkan nations.
   
   Finally, Glenny does not show undue sympathy or hostility to the various actors on the Balkan stage. I think that this is vital as so many other commentators have adopted particular Balkan nations or groups as cause celebre. In my view, the latter approach has interfered with meaningful discussion of this important but troubled region.



3. As the subtitle of his work indicated, Mischa Glenny's work concentrated on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He arranged his material chronologi-cally, with geographical subdivisions within the chunks of time. He offered narra-tive history of the various times and places, focusing almost exclusively on political and military subjects, although there are biographical sketches included occasionally. Throughout the book, Glenny drew from a wide array of primary sources.
   
   Two themes permeate _The Balkans_. Glenny believed that the great pow-ers unduly interfered in Balkan affairs and that the majority of misery and suffer-ing which occurred there resulted either directly or indirectly from one or more of these external meddlings. He raised this idea in his introduction and he ham-mered it home in his subsequent chapters. Glenny's other principal theme was that Balkan people are nothing more nor less than individuals with their own dreams and aspirations. They are not more genetically predisposed towards racial hatred, nor ethnic biases than any other people. Glenny hoped to show that whatever problems and enmity that may exist in the Balkans can be explained in terms of recent events without resorting to "ancient hatreds". Each of these themes is a manifestation of Glenny's general premise that the West does not understand the Balkans.



4. If you only read one book on the Balkans this is the one you should read. Glenny takes us through the rise of the Balkans following their separation from the Ottoman Empire through the present day break up of Yugoslavia. The fall of communism is well illustrated as is the struggle between Russia and Austria for mastery of the region. The establishment of Bulgaria as the "super power" of the Balkans by the Russians is illustrated in the comical light that it was at the time. This book does an excellent job of thoroughly covering the salient points in the region and doing so with wonderful prose. This is an incredibly troubled area and understanding that this area was created out of conflict is essential for studying the region today. This is great for an expert or a beginner. Regardless of how much you've looked at the Balkans this is a must have for any European history library.



5. Wow! How can anyone expect to cover the 19th and 20th century Balkans in one book? Well, Misha Glenny certainly did an excellent job!
   
   Unlike European history, Balkan history is chaotic and played out on multiple stages with little or no correlation between the actors. When I bought the book, I thought it was going to be a mish-mash of confusing narrative, bouncing back and forth willy-nilly between one Balkan "state" and another, forward and backward in time ... until my head started spinning.
   
   But I was surprised - pleasantly so - by the author's skill at pulling so many different ideas and political bickerings together into a one-volume book. Most of the time, he has to cover it from "20,000 feet" to avoid bogging the text down with too much detail. And yet, there's enough detail at "10 feet" to understand the forces at work.
   
   It's one of the best overall historic views of this varied part of the world that I've ever read. If you want to read about some of the thoughts and ideologies that shaped the Balkans for two centuries, this is the book you want to read.