Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation by Laura Silber, Allan Little
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.97 You Save: $16.03 (94%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.89 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation
Book Review: Very detailed, but never boring
Summary: 5 Stars
Probably the best account of what exactly happened in Bosnia, and how the whole thing started (not just Bosnia, but Kosovo and Croatia as well). Authors go into extensive detail, providing the reader with a solid background to the war(s). While I was intimately familiar with the conflicts, or so I thought, this book shed some much needed light on some of the doubts I had, some confusing contradictions I picked up through the media, etc. The book, contrary to what some people are saying here, is not biased at all. That one side is portrayed in an "evil" tone is merely a result of what that "side" did during the conflicts, as documented by thousands of media outlets, historians, cameras and photographs. Of course, no one is an angel, but that should not diminish the fact that - there are demons and then there are DEMONS. Or whatever the daily word for evil, bad, ruthless people is.
The book is thoroughly researched with a lot of important and verifiable information. It focuses on Croatia and Bosnia, mostly in Bosnia. It is the most accurate account that I've encountered yet; written in a clear and harmonious way. Did not get bored for one second, even though most of the information was not new to me. But what was new to me was certainly worth the wait.
Book Review: The Premier Primer for the 1990's Balkan Conflict
Summary: 5 Stars
If ever there was a book published that covered nearly all the bases on what happened and who was in charge, the dynamics of the countries involved and all the political and military players, this is the book. I've read several books now on the history of the Balkans and the fall of Yugoslavia and this book is probably the least biased by authors who were there and watched it all unfold. The book leaves no doubt that atrocities did occur and that those responsible covered all the bases. There is plenty of blame to go around and plenty of denial by those involved and even those who ignored the plight of Croats, Serbs and Bosnians throughout this disastrous war of ethnic cleansing. Highly recommended if you know nothing or think you know it all.Book Review: Detailed, but incomplete and biased
Summary: 2 Stars
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).
Nonetheless, this book has a strong anti-Serb thesis, which, I suppose, it needs in order to be conclusive. In other words, if there are no good guys and bad guys, the Laura Silber would create an incomplete work. But for someone who wants to get a good insight of the war in Balkans, it cannot be looked through the lenses of "black and white," as this book tries to convey.
It is important for readers to know that the accounts of the war are carefully selected and edited in the anti-Serb fashion. For example, the ethnic cleansing atrocities, when described in detail, are almost always pertaining to the Serbs. But when it comes to the Croats and the Muslims, the book overlooks their actions during the war. In addition, the book provides little evidence of the involvement of the bigger powers - EU and USA.
For example, early chapters go into great depth talking about the pointless shelling of Dubrovnik, talking about Montenegrins peasants getting their "revenge" to fulfill their jealousies against the prominent Croatian population of Ragusa. But when it talks about Operation Storm - the single biggest even of ethnic cleansing during the entire war, undertaken by Croatian Forces will full military, logistical, and financial support from the US, it does not go into any depth at all. It is dismissed as "Krajina Serbs" got what they deserved. The Krajina Serbs did not "occupy" that part of Croatia - they lived there for hundreds of years.
When dealing with international involvement, it goes to great length to disapprove Srebrenica, while Operation Storm is supported by the West. Perhaps US and EU had other motivations in this conflict? What about the arming of Croats and Bosnia throughout before the war in the old SFRJ (which was then illegal)
In addition to a one-sided view, it fails to address other major issues, such as economic disparities. Invoking economics, it justifies Croatia's and Slovenia's promising economic position before the disintegration, nevertheless, it mentions to compare facts. Slovenia and Croatia assumed a high level of industry due to the fact they had cheap natural resources that mostly came from Serbia and Kosovo. In addition, the economic status of Serbia is taken under consideration with Kosovo - even though Kosovo, not Serbia, is the most impoverished region in former Yugoslavia. The fact that Kosovo Albanian's have been boycotting the federal institutions since early 1980s - not paying taxes, utilities, and other duties since the death of Tito had something to do with this idea.
While I do not discourage people from reading this book, I only state that Laura Silber (et al) provides a narrow-minded, opinionated, and sensationally journalistic view of the breakup of former Yugoslavia.
If anyone is interested in truly learning about this conflict, more resources are necessary.
Book Review: Designed and Decided by the West
Summary: 1 Stars
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.
Book Review: A brilliant analysis of the breakup of Yugoslavia
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Silber and Little argue that the key to understanding why Yugoslavia collapsed is Milosevic coming to power and the subsequent rise of the Serbian nationalism. Cunning and manipulative, Milosevic stabbed the then President of Serbia Stambolic in the back and took over as President of Serbia. Through sophisticated propaganda, Milosevic was able to manipulate and control the Serbian people. He had managed to convince his people that they were second-class citizens facing extermination unless they all united and pursued the sacred Serbian goal of creating a "Greater Serbia". Milosevic claimed that the Serbs in Kosovo were living under the Albanian rule. Of course nothing could be farther from the truth, if anything the situation was quite the opposite. The Albanians in Kosovo were oppressed but Milosevic aware that the Serbs had always considered Kosovo a part of Serbia knew the enormous importance of Kosovo for his people. Determined to "save" the Serbian people from "extermination", Milosevic asserted that the creation of a "Greater Serbia" would be his primary objective. This pursue of the greater Serbian ideology led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia; Serbia first attacked Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and ultimately Kosovo.
Silber and Little completely shatter the myth that the war in Bosnia was a civil war. Instead they provide compelling and incontrovertible evidence that the war was a Serbian aggression. The presence of the JNA, the former federal Yugoslav army in Bosnia, which sided with Bosnian Serbs throughout the Bosnian war corroborates their assertion that the war in Bosnia was the Serbian aggression. Furthermore, Silber and Little give a thorough account of the atrocities that were committed in Bosnia. For instance, a detailed scrutiny of the unfathomable torture in detention camps at Omarska, Trnopolje, Keraterm and Omaca is offered. Silber and Little also brilliantly analyze the gruesome massacre in Srebrenica, the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.
People seeking to understand the root causes of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the subsequent devestation of the country are strongly advised to read this masterpiece. In my opinion, it is undeniably one of the best written books on the subject. It is also without a doubt the most objective one. The fact that it is extremely well structured and well written make it a must. Buy it!