Product Description

This updated edition of Noel Malcolm's highly-acclaimed Bosnia: A Short History provides the reader with the most comprehensive narrative history of Bosnia in the English language. Malcolm examines the different religious and ethnic inhabitants of Bosnia, a land of vast cultural upheaval where the empires of Rome, Charlemagne, the Ottomans, and the Austro-Hungarians overlapped. Clarifying the various myths that have clouded the modern understanding of Bosnia's past, Malcolm brings to light the true causes of the country's destruction. This expanded edition of Bosnia includes a new epilogue by the author examining the failed Vance-Owen peace plan, the tenuous resolution of the Dayton Accords, and the efforts of the United Nations to keep the uneasy peace.

Customer Reviews (28)

OVERLAPPING OF CULTURES AND RELIGIONS
The study of Bosnia and its surrounding neighbors will never be simple and probably tough for an outsider to understand, and likely for an insider to decipher without prejudice and bias. The mighty powers of Rome, Charlemagne, the Ottomans,and the Austro-Hungarians, and the faiths of Western and Estern Christianity, Judaism and Islam, all played significiant roles in the history and development of Bosnia as it stands today. To understand what is happening, you must first try to understand the origins of the continual fighting,and the second is the need to dispel some of the mists of misunderstanding, deliberate myth-making (propaganda from all sides) and sheer ignorance in which all discussion of Bosnia and its history has become shrouded. One thing that a traveler notices right away is that there is no typical Bosnian face and Bosnia has been called microcosm of the Balkans.It is a mixture of people, light and dark, big-boned and wiry-limbed, etc., because of all the trading and invasions, and co-mingling during the preceding centuries. The author does a good job in analyzing the myths, races, and orgins, and how geography was extremely important, especially the two main two routes of travel either through the high mountains or along the Dalmatian coastal strip. Historians may find fault in some areas of the book, but as a tourist and adventurer, I evaluated the book as a 'must-read' to help understand the Balkans.

Eye-opening introduction
Much of what goes by "history" in the Balkans is actually myth, generated and repeated by the regional tribes to serve their chauvinistic purposes.The serious historian will necessarily clash with those treasured myths.Malcolm is a serious historian.

When published in 1994, in the middle of the war, this book was Malcolm's herald to an uncomprehending world. He had the fortitude to state up front that he believed the Serbians were primarily responsible for the destruction of Bosnia.For this, he was attacked as "biased."He is not so much biased as opinionated.Objectivity does not require neutrality.Or, as he expressed it himself, truth is not the average of the contending viewpoints.

Two main themes pervade.

First, the idea of Bosnia as a distinct, free-standing nation is very old and very well-established.The oft-heard claim that Bosnians are "really" Croats or "really" Serbs is historically unsupportable.In a fascinating digression, Malcolm demonstrates that the core ancestors of modern Bosnian Serbs were not even Slavs.They were Vlachs, a Romanized migrant tribe, remnants of the Illyrians, who pre-dated the 6th century Slav migration by hundreds of years.So much for Serbian and Russian affinity for their "Slav brothers."

Nor was was Bosnia merely an arbitrarily-drawn administrative district.It was an independent kingdom from the end of Byzantine dominion in 1180 until the Ottoman conquest in 1463 (Herzegovina was annexed in 1326).The Ottomans conferred on it the distinction of being a separate eyalet, or province of the Empire, with its own high-ranking pasha.The Austro-Hungarians from 1878-1918, and Tito's communists from 1945-1989, in their turn treated it similarly.

Malcolm's second major theme is that the much-cited "ancient hatreds" that were said by superficially-informed Western commentatorsto have "re-surfaced" after the collapse of the Yugoslav state did not exist.All the grim episodes in Bosnian history, he maintains, were engendered by outside forces, not internal hatreds.

That is especially true of the 1992-95 war. Bosnian Catholics and Bosnian Orthodox Christians share nothing distinctive with inhabitants of Croatia or Serbia, except religion(the more-or-less common language cuts across all religions;and there is no distinctive Bosnian or Serbian or Croation race).Croatia and Serbia, in their competition with each other, have longtried to persuade their co-religionists in Bosnia that they were "really" Croats or Serbs. Slobodan Milosevic pushed that gambit to its limits. In truth, the claim that religious hatred characterized the history of Bosnia is a distortion.

During the 400 years of Ottoman rule, there seems to have been little religious strife. Catholics, Orthodox, and Muslims lived in substantial harmony, at least in comparison to the bitter religious conflicts occurring on the main part of the European continent.Jews and Gypsies were treated better by these Mohammedans than by just about any country in Christian Europe.

When the Ottomans completed their conquest of Bosnia in 1463, resident Muslims were2% of the population.By about 1600, they were a majority.Malcolm goes tolengths to argue that the conversion was voluntary.He cannot avoid conceding that non-Muslims were discriminated against."Voluntary" converts attained lower taxes and access to the courts and to government careers.Moreover, about 200,000 Christian boys were forcibly taken to Istanbulfor conversion during that century and a half in the infamous devsirme. But mass conversion was not coerced in the brutal way that our Christian ancestors so nobly enlightened conquered pagans.

Similar harmony continued under the Austro-Hungarians, who made tolerance an imperial policy; and, despite some localized pogroms, through the inter-war period as well.Under Tito, all religion was repressed (though not forbidden).The combination of 40 years of atheistic communism plus the greater secularism of the modern era made Bosnia, on the eve of the 1990s war, one of the most secular nations in the world.

Malcolm is scornful--almost bitter, it seems--of the Western belief at the time that the 1990s war was a "civil war" caused by a thing called "violence" which "flared up" on both sides, rather than what it was--a carefully-planned Serbian invasion of a woefully out-gunned Bosnia.

Milosevic had control of the federal Yugoslav army.His strategy, borrowed from the Vietnamese communists, was to set up "Serb autonomous regions" in Bosnia; to arm them through the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic (now on trial at the Hague); to create violent local incidents inviting Bosnian reaction; then to have the autonomous regions request "protection" from the federal army.

The actual war began when a leader of the Serb irregulars, the notorious Arkan, attacked the town of Bijeljina, in northeastern Bosnia just across the border from Serbia.It was the axial point of two swaths of territory to be taken over by the Serbians:across the top of Bosnia, linking Serbia with Banja Luka, and down the eastern border to the ethnically Serb areas of Herzegovina.Federal artillery would pound each town, then the irregulars would go in and terrorize the populace.In six weeks, the federal army supporting various paramilitaries took60% of Bosnia.

The federal army supposedly was then withdrawn, and the fighting left to the Bosnian Serbs under command of the future butcher of Srebrenica, Ratko Mladic (still at large).In fact, Malcolm argues, it was all a sham, with most of the federal army staying in Bosnia under different cloaks (shades of Vietnam, again).

Malcolm excoriates the West for two mistakes.The first was its refusal to lift the arms embargo, which in practice disadvantaged only the Bosnians.To lift it, said British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd with astonishing thick-headedness, "would only prolong the fighting."

The second was to proffer the Vance-Owen Plan calling for ethnic cantons labeled as such, but leaving the boundaries unsettled, which invited further fighting.Worse, it engendered a true civil war, as Muslims and Bosnian Croats battled each other for territory.

Malcolm adds that the final Western blunder was to abandon all pretense of enforcing the Vance-Owen plan, and adopt instead the tragically laughable policy of establishing UN-protected "safe areas."One of those was Srebrenica.The book ends in 1993.The worst horrors were yet to come.

Malcolm's credibility slips in only one respect.He seems to bend too far over backwards to presentMuslims favorably--not just the Bosniaks of the recent war, but the Ottomans as well.Were they really so mild and well-meaning?

Books, like Olympic divers, should get degree-of-difficulty marks. This was a hard book to write. The sources are scanty and access to them difficult.Bosnia was settled, invaded, and impinged upon by so many civilizations that there is no unified tale, just dozens offragmented tales. The bibliography is in ten languages.

The old tale of the blind men and the elephant is too simple a metaphor for Bosnia.Any faction can argue any position and find some past episode to support it.A novice in Balkan history like me must be modest in evaluating a work by so learned and diligent an expert as Malcolm.I can, though, exercise the veteran trial lawyer's instinct for credibility.On that basis, I judge him honest and sincere, at a minimum, and mostly credible.That's a solid endorsement in a field so suffused with axe-grinding.

Mainly accurate accounts, overshadowed by author's opinion = propaganda book, find something better
This book is NOT a HISTORY BOOK, it is an argument made by one historian who probably hasn't been in Bosnia for more then 2 weeks.In the introduction Malcolm starts off stating that this entire book will be an argument that the there is one group responsible for the war.By one group he means the Serbs. The book is not worth the paper it's written on.Find a better author. IT is NOT a HISTORY BOOK,it is an argument for one view of a very controversial war.This book is Propaganda and nothing else.Find a book by a Bosnian Muslim OR a Bosnian Serb author, and it will be LESS biased.

Best book I read on History of Bosnia
In his Book Malcom takes extra steps to show how flawed and one sided areeach of there histories courently tought in Bosnian schools. Taking the research into libraries of ottoman, habsburg empires and further, he writes most objective piece. This is the book that all bosnian should read and it should be required reading in all history clases in bosnia.

Good history, marred by modern sympathy
Malcolm delivers a strong, if brief, history of medieval Bosnia. He presents a cogent explanation of who the Serbs, Croats and (others? Bosniaks? Muslims?) are, and where they came from. And then he delivers a stilted modern history, twisted by his (somewhat understandable, Western) sympathy for Izetbegovic.

One thing a history should do is go beyond an encyclopedia entry. This book succeeds. Rather than just list kings, conflicts, edicts... Malcolm digs into disputed questions of history, and takes a side, based on evidence. There is a Bosnian history, distinct from Serbia or from Croatia. There was a Bosnian church, but it was not Bogomilist. There was, briefly, an independent Bosnia.

The book is thorough during the Ottoman period. There was no mass conversion to Islam. There were rivalries and conflicts among local, Bosnian Ottomans of different ranks, and between locals and the Porte. Malcolm looks at politics, at economics, and at military issues as they wrap together. The status of peasants varied, based not only on religion but also on what sort of farm/estate they were on.

Malcolm goes beyond Bosnia's borders. To explain internal politics in the empire (temporary posts, the end of the Janissaries, the devrisme) he brings us to Salonika or Istanbul. Relations with Austria, ongoing warfare, refugees from Ottoman defeats in Hungary, cross border raids... all are treated in some detail.

The best of this book, in a way, comes when it reaches the late 19th and early 20th century. Bosnian Slavs were Muslim, Orthodox, or Catholic. We've already learned about how and where many of these Slavs came from (in many cases, other groups assimilated, as, for example, the Vlachs on the military border with Austria slavicized, and retained their Orthodoxy). But in the context of growing Balkan nationalism, Orthodox Bosnian Slavs came to identify as Serbs, and Catholic Bosnian Slavs as Croats. And Muslim Bosnian Slavs? The question mark is Malcolm's, not mine, and helps set the stage for the 20th century.

But the worst of the book is what comes after. Malcolm is (from a western standpoint, understandably) sympathetic to the Muslim position in the war after the break-up of Yugoslavia. Malcolm also is hostile to communism. The combination colors his history from post-WWI onward. The history of WWII is stilted, soft-peddles the role of the Ustashe, is hostilely revisionist towards the Partisans, and goes to odd lengths to equate them with the Chetniks. The post-war chapter seeks to downplay the positive developments in Yugoslavia, and digresses in order to excuse, in advance, Izetbegovic's position in the 90's.

Don't read the book for its post-WWI coverage. But do read it for its compelling, surprisingly detailed history of Bosnia up to that point. ... Read more

Product Description
When History is a Nightmare is an impassionedinvestigation of how collective memory has shaped history and lives inthe Balkans.And how the mishandling of memories of traumatizationactually made ethnic cleansing possible.Weine explores how Tito'sgovernment pushed memories of World War II ethnic atrocities aside andallowed the Bosnian value of "merhamet", meaning forgiveness andcharity, to flourish in the era of living together.But Bosnians wereleft unable to recognize ethnic nationalism -- and unprepared todefend themselves.He then offers a vivid look at the other side: howSerbian nationalists leaders Jovan Raskovic and Radovan Karadzicmanipulated and spread memories to propel Serbs towards genocide.When History is a Nightmare concludes by probing Bosnians' effortsafter ethnic cleansing to reconcile their remembrances of livingtogether in multi-ethnic Bosnia with the memories of ethnic atrocities-- a struggle over memory for the Bosnian future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a powerful, impressionistic account of the Balkan horrors
Weine's book is by no means narrow in its subject-matter. He touches on: inter-ethnic marriage, criticisms of the United Nations, memory as a ground for social morality, the challenges of refugees in America, the construction of psychoses, the social deification of doctors, urbanism, the identity of Europe and the Balkans, the impact of communist cultural censorship, fundamentalism, the social responsibilities of psychiatrists, the need for a permanent UN war crimes court, and discontinuities in the lifepaths of trauma survivors. Any one of these issues could have been the topic for his relatively short 230 page book. But together, they paint a picture of the multifaceted chaos that is ethnic conflict. We get the sense that nothing here is simple, that everything is interconnected, and that the ethnic cleansing is not a psychiatric, geographic, military, or political issue, but fundamentally a human problem of persons.

So if you are looking for a deep and careful study of the psychological issues that afflict ethnic cleansing survivors, then I suppose that this book is not your source. If you want, on the other hand, a compelling and touching tour through a recent crisis of human history and a casual chat with a knowledgeable, connected, and compassionate person,then Stevan Weine's book is the perfect choice...END ... Read more

Product Description
The cultural, social, political, and demographic studies of Bosnia in this volume encompass more than four hundred years of history and offer a broad, multidimensional view of this vital Ottoman territory. Written by native and foreign specialists, these studies evaluate and seek also to rescue and preserve the legacy of the extraordinarily important buildings, manuscripts, and other cultural artifacts destroyed during the war of 1992-1995. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Good job
This book is very good, i can see that Marko did his research very well, perhaps he put to much emphasis on 19-th and 20-th century Bosnia.
It`s a shame that he didn`t find it important to write more about Bosnian medieval rulers ,and especially the Bosnian church, the latter is a very important part of Bosnian history.
Overall i think Marko Attila Hoare did a very good job, this book is just as good as his other book "How Bosnia armed".
I strongly recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn more about the Bosnian history. ... Read more

Product Description
While the contemporary political history of Bosnia has been played out on television for international audiences, the complicated cultural basis for recent historical events remains largely unknown. Why did Bosnians who spoke the same language fracture along religious and ethnic lines? Is there a distinct Bosnian nation and Bosnian culture? What does it mean to be Bosnian if one is Serbian or Croatian? And what does the future hold for artistic and intellectual life in Bosnia?

In Bosnia: A Cultural History, Ivan Lovrenovic provides a complex and detailed account of Bosnian history from a unique and often overlooked perspective. Focusing on the changes in religious, cultural, and ethnic influences from Paleolithic times to the present, Lovrenovic's analysis probes deep into the Bosnian past and helps to enlighten the reader as to the present and potential future of this troubled land.

The evolution of the Bosnian Church dictinct from the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, the role of Islam and Judaism, religious and secular architecture, ancient and modern prose and poetry, music, radio, film and television are all discussed to offer a comprehensive portrait of Bosnian culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Invaluable
A very special book.

One of the stereotypes about Bosnia and the recent conflicts was the common complaint that the history and culture of the region were impossibly complex, incomprehensible.The stereotype furnished a convenient excuse for those who wished to acquiesce in the organized aggression and crimes and the country and its people.

This short book is the clearest, most accessible account of Bosnian culture, history, and identity available in English. It should be the first book read in any discussion of Bosnia.Each phase of history--from the medieval period to the tragic wars and genocide of 1992-1995--is depicted with concision, humanity, and depth.The writing is lucid and the stunning black-and-white photo-illustrations are integrated with care and sensitivity into the narrative. Recommended not only for those interested in Bosnia-Herzegovina only, but for those interested in European history, East-West relations, and the dynamic of religion, culture, and identity; i.e. to both specialists in the Balkans and to the wide readership of those interested in history and culture anywhere.

The reader will emerge with a sense not of incomprehensibility, but of the richness, vitality, and uniqueness of an extraordinary place and people.

Must Read
An exceptional book, from an exceptional writer.Not that many people understand all the intricacies of Bosnain culture like Ivan Lovrenovic does.Simply, one of the best books you can read about often misunderstood Bosnia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Nasty piece of work - both the war & this book
I was hoping that this book would deliver the goods as Norman Cigar's Genocide in Bosnia and Takis Michas' Unholy Alliance are quality thought provoking books from the same publisher and this topic is certainly crying out for an unbiased and objective warts and all account of the Bosnian Muslim-Croat war. Unfortunately this book is little more than a puff piece for Tudjman's vile and ultimately self defeating assault on Bosnia.

A credible book on this topic will need to address how moderate and pro-Bosnian alliance Croats were deliberately marginalised or removed from power by Tudjman and his local cronies; how both Croatian and Bosnian forces were increasingly drawn into corrupt cooperation with their Serbian counterparts; how atrocities against Bosnian-Muslim (and to a lesser extent Croatian) civilians were used as a means of destroying the fabric of cooperation between the two communities; and how these local strategies fed Tudjman's historicist vision of himself as a grand and visionary statesman who would achieve both a historic golden handshake with Belgrade that would end not only the war and the (contrived)centuries old Serbo-Croat dispute, but also save western civilisation from the oriental scourge of Islam and Christian Orthodoxy.

The military history of the Croatian assault on Bosnia can only be explained through the prism of Croatian polictics during the Tudjmanistan regime.

See the following for a more thought provoking and credible reference:

Flag on the Mountain: A Political Anthropology of War in Croatia and Bosnia

Lies, pro-croat literature and propaganda
This is by far the most biased book I've read about the bosnian war. This is the thing you have to understand. Yes Croats wanted to assist the bosnian troops, invited them to join the HVO and offered them support against the serbs, but only if the country becomes croat, which means, that they would sell their own country. Why would Bosnia attack Croats? They did not have any weapons to do so. HVO was far better equipped for the war than any Bosnian company, so why would they start a war against a far superior force, when they had to fight the Serbs as well?
Tudjman and Milosevic separated Bosnia into two parts, having in their plan to cleanse the region of Muslims, the only country still represented (somewhat) as a muslim state. Look at the damage to the cities. I come from a city that is half-bosnian half-croatian. When you look at Gornji Vakuf, you can see exactly which side had the weapons, and which one just defended their own homes. The croatian side, which they renamed Uskoplje, was nowhere near the destruction of the muslim side. I mean the general editor from this book is a croat for crying out loud. The insignia the soldier wears on the cover is croatian (by the way, which was also an ustasha symbol during WW2, when they were helping out the Nazis)and nobody says a word. Yes, the checkered insignia was also part of their kingdom, but it wasn't in the shape of an U, which is the same as it was during the Ustasha regime. Everything in croatia was changed when Tudjman came to power to make it the way it was during that regime, the currency, the flag, the language, everything, and nobody says a f-ing thing. How would jews feel if Germany would start promoting SS on their uniforms, or the swastika on their flag???
Finally, Croatia is changing now, for the good. They have outlawed the ustasha symbols and are going back to their good roots.
All I am saying is, use your brain... why would an inferior force attack somebody they are bound to lose against? This is not a history book. but a propaganda tool used to make the muslim race seem aggressive. I am an atheist, so don't label me to either crazy party, but this needs to stop. This is just putting more fuel into the fire, and let's face it, it will explode again. The truth needs to come out, and 99% of all the books have it, but it's the 1% that can start everything up again. This book needs to be re-labeled and removed from the history category.

Do not read this if you are a Serb......
Obviously the truth would hurt.
About time some light was shed on what actually happened, and the process that Croatia played in actually saving Bosnia, though to their dismay, getting back stabbed for their hard work.
The Muslims should be greatful.
Interesting read, from an Ex-Crni Gorac, and here's to our Independance.

Revision Of Second Hand History Writing
Denying that there took place a military offencive cooperation between Bosnian Muslims and mujahedin troops in Central Bosnia (from 1992 onwards) is not a clever way of argumenting the facts built up steadily in this work of recent military history. That fact is too well documented to be questioned. Besides, this book is about the warfare in Bosnia from 1992, not about the Ustashe killing some Serbs during WWII. But of course, some people wouldn't want to see this book written. Rather another propagandic book about the niceness of all Serb actions (or Bosniak for that matter). Slowly, very slowly, well documented books about the war in Bosnia are starting to be published, written by historians rather than journalists with second hand oral information at disposal.

When the Serbs attacked Bosnia the first people to resist were the Croats through the Croatian Defence Council (HVO). Had it not been for the HVO, Bosnia would have been overwhelmed almost immediately. Charles Shrader's superlative new history establishes that it was the Bosniak side that started the war in order to cleanse Central Bosnia of its Croats. Shrader also points out the transit of arms via Croatia to Bosnia and the continued co-operation of HVO and Bosnian forces throughout the Muslim-Croat conflict.

Shrader is a respected American military historian. Further, his book is published by American Texas A&M University press's Eastern European Studies. These studies have an editorial board which contains people sympathetic to the Bosnian state, and who were critical of Tudjman. In other words, this is a book that is credible and cannot be dismissed as Croat propaganda.

Thousands of Bosniaks were accepted as refugees in Croatia. If Croatia were an aggressor on the level of Serbia why would Bosniaks seek refuge there? And why would Croatia accept them - especially when it had its own refugees to contend with - if the intent of the Croats was to establish a Croat state on Bosnian soil?

The Muslim-Croat war was over in 1994 - with many Croats ethnically cleansed from Central Bosnia. Croat and Bosnian forces then devoted all efforts against the Serbs. In 1995, Croatia launched Operation Storm. Croat forces recaptured last swathes of its territory. In the process, the beleaguered Bihac pocket in Northwestern Bosnia was saved from a Srebrenica style fate. Serb forces were rolled back and peace in Bosnia was achieved. And then 49% of BiH was given to the Serbs by the international community!! Incredible.

If you compare the population consensus of 1991 to the post-war 1999, you will quickly see that the proportionate number of Croats in Central Bosnia is dramatically lower. And that the number of Bosniaks living in Western Hercegovina is almost the same as the pre-war level. The number of Bosniaks living in Western Hercegovina was never great. Someone well versed in the history of Bosnia should know that very well. Why don't you mention anything about the large number of ethnically cleansed Bosniaks (and Croats) from Serb-held territory? Makes me wonder...

Objectivity? or the Truth!
It continually amazes me when people criticize Croats in Bosnia Herzegovina for protecting there interests.Prior to reading this book, it was obvious to me that the Bosnian Muslims never wanted want an ally in Croatia and the Bosnian Croats, which supplied them with arms, food, and took in refuges before they turned on them. Strategic error on there part that they will never overcome.This is from someone who defended there actions for a long time, but no more.

It always seems that the Yugoslav propaganda about Ustase killing hundreds of thousands of Serbs comes out.But the Fact remains, Hitler formed 2 divisions of SS from Bosnian Muslims who also were in Ustase (Pavelic's Vice President was a Croat-Muslim from Herzegovina), Serb Cetniks were allied with the Nazi's as well, and the Partisans (Tito) were butchers just as Hitler and Stalin were.Killing hundreds of thousands of Croats and Serbs after the war.

From the beginning of the war when Alija Izedbegovic always thought the Serb dominated Yugoslav army would defend him, a big mistake which he and the people of Bosnia paid for brutally.From a strategic stance this book makes the most sense that i have read to date.No one else has gone as deep to figure out what actually was happening on the ground.I wonder why?

People continually forget that reporters are not Military experts, nor do they have the expertise to assess a situation. This books view of a military point of view is key and understanding what the Bosnian Muslims were doing prior to break out of war between the two sides.This book just makes sense.

You have to also figure, why Dario Kordic received a 25 year sentence for not killing anyone or ordering an attack on anyone.You also have to wonder why The Hague convicts people of genocide for only 25 years.I wonder why Sefer Halilovic has not gone to The Hague for his atrocities when he commanded Yugoslav forces and the Bosnian Army.Doesn't make sense, does it?

I had a chance to attend a lecture given by Mr. Shrader when he was in Chicago, he said that no Bosnian Muslim would ever meet with him nor would the Bosnian government give him assistance in speaking with troops or opening up there archives to see what there actual plans were. Speaking to him shed more light on who was more open to documentation and who wasn't (Bosniaks). ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (13)

About time...
A well reasoned and researched book that illuminates an unknown aspect of the West's blind support of one actor in a complicated civil war.Balkan Muslim communities have escaped scrutiny based on the US policies in Bosnia and Kosovo... but the Ft Dix Plot (Kosovo Muslim Albanians), the recent arrests in NYC and North Carolina, Salt Lake City mall shootings illuminate the ties (limited albeit) between Balkan Muslim disporas in the US with global terror.Worth the read, especially since Bosnian authorities are still dealing with radicals... the latest arrests were on 5 Nov 09 in Sarajevo....

No Book Can Be All Things to All People
I can definitely see why people with no knowledge of the war will think the Bosnians are rabid terrorists because of this 'tell-all expose.'It not only relies on selective information and presents things out of context, but is, in many places, misleading.In fact, so many that I won't even go into it.

I don't disrespect the author for his experience, time, and research, which is why I gave him two stars instead of one. But the book is inflammatory, as it is clearly meant to be.

Do some broader reading if you intend for it to be useful, and start with another respected expert in his field. Read Norman Cigar's "Genocide in Bosnia: The Policy of Ethnic Cleansing." Cigar is a professor of National Security Studies at Quantico, who has also written books on terrorism.

Another excellent book, which addresses the focus of this one, is "How Bosnia Armed" by Yale PhD Marko Atilla Hoare.

Don't read
I guess Mr. Schindler thinks that the US Army should have invaded Bosnia instead of Iraq to fight Al-Qaeda. Come on, people. This is 2009 and now even fifth graders know better. Since 1992 the government of Serbia occasionally finds irrelevant Westerners who are willing to justify slaughter of the Bosnian genocide victims for the money. This book is just another poor attempt to do so.

Don't Bother
The connection between Al-Qaeda and the Balkans is just as that of Basque Homeland and Freedom organization and the country of Argentina, meaning it can be made on a faint religious basis.An attempt at this connection is being made merely because Bosnia, where religion always played a minor role in society, has a Muslim population (historically one of the most secular).Don't expect to get an intellectually stimulating or informative insight in this book.It is merely a vain attempt to make money.There are many other books that deal both with both of these topics - "Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror" and "The Death of Yugoslavia".If you are interested in these topics, save your time and money by getting one of these two books instead.

Untruthful and propaganda-ridden
This book is an attempt to exploit the current terrorist Al-Qaida threat in the U.S. in order to gain some recognition and possbily sell a few copies.An inaccurate attempt to create a connection between the Bosniaks and Al-Qaida, where one was nonexistent.Being of the Muslim faith, particularly a devoted and religious individual, does not correlate directly to Al-Qaida or such extreme groups.Schindler has very limited understanding of the real political standings in the Balkans and the books tone is one carried out by Serbian propaganda.Serbians, yes, the group who committed genocide, decimating 250,000 people in less than 3 years.Like I said, Schindler is jumping on the "terrorist" bandwagon. ... Read more

Product Description
History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Early history ofBosniaand Herzegovina, Prehistory of Southeastern Europe,Historyof Bosnia and Herzegovina (958?1463), History ofBosnia andHerzegovina (1463?1878), State organisation of theOttomanEmpire, Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire, Millet(OttomanEmpire), History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878?1918),History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1918?1941), History ofBosnia and Herzegovina (1941?1945), History of Bosnia andHerzegovina (1945?1992), Bosnian War, Breakup ofYugoslavia,Timeline of Yugoslav breakup, Meeting in Kara?or?evo,Fo?amassacres, Prijedor massacre, La?va Valley ethniccleansing,1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bosnian Genocide, Mass rape in the Bosnian War ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The 'product' description....
History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Early history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prehistory of Southeastern Europe, History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (958?1463), History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1463?1878), State organisation of the Ottoman Empire, Subdivisions of the Ottoman Em

....IS A LIST OF ALL THE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLES THAT WERE USED TO MAKE THE ENTIRE BOOK ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Bosnia and Herzegovina," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Bosnia and Herzegovina in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Bosnia and Herzegovina when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Bosnia and Herzegovina, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Bosnia," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Bosnia in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Bosnia when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Bosnia, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Bosnia-Herzegovina," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Bosnia-Herzegovina in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Bosnia-Herzegovina when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Bosnia-Herzegovina, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
Five major groups fought one another in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Second World War:The German and Italian occupiers, the Serbian Chetniks, the Ustasha of the Independent State of Croatia, the Bosnian Muslims, and the Tito-led Partisans.The aims, policies, and actions of each group are examined in light of their own documents and those of rival groups.This work shows how the Partisans prevailed over other groups because of their ideological appeal, superior discipline, and success in winning the support of large numbers of uncommitted Bosnians, particularly the Bosnian Muslims. ... Read more

Product Description
The recent atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have stunned people throughout the world. With Holocaust memories still painfully vivid, a question haunts us: how is this savagery possible? Michael A. Sells answers by demonstrating that the Bosnian conflict is not simply a civil war or a feud of age-old adversaries. It is, he says, a systematic campaign of genocide and a Christian holy war spurred by religious mythologies.
This passionate yet reasoned book examines how religious stereotyping--in popular and official discourse--has fueled Serbian and Croatian ethnic hatreds. Sells, who is himself Serbian American, traces the cultural logic of genocide to the manipulation by Serb nationalists of the symbolism of Christ's death, in which Muslims are "Christ-killers" and Judases who must be mercilessly destroyed. He shows how "Christoslavic" religious nationalism became a central part of Croat and Serbian politics, pointing out that intellectuals and clergy were key instruments in assimilating extreme religious and political ideas.
Sells also elucidates the ways that Western policy makers have rewarded the perpetrators of the genocide and punished the victims. He concludes with a discussion of how the multireligious nature of Bosnian society has been a bridge between Christendom and Islam, symbolized by the now-destroyed bridge at Mostar. Drawing on historical documents, unpublished United Nations reports, articles from Serbian and Bosnian media, personal contacts in the region, and Internet postings, Sells reveals the central role played by religious mythology in the Bosnian tragedy. In addition, he makes clear how much is at stake for the entire world in the struggle to preserve Bosnia's existence as a multireligious society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

The Bridge Betrayed
The title of this book refers to the Bridge of Mostar in the city by that name in current day Bosnia. The bridge was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century and symbolized to many a bridge between East and West, Christian and Muslim etc. For hundreds of years, this area was home to a flourishing pluralistic culture that included Bosnian Muslims, Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs. This was all shattered when the nationalist tendencies that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia erupted in war and ethnic cleansing in the early 90s. In 1993, Croat nationalist forces destroyed the bridge in what Sells claims was a systematic campaign to eradicate Islamic culture from the region.

Contrary to the myth of the Balkans as an inherently violent place of ancient hatreds, Sells sees the conflict's origins as much more recent. He describes how the Nazis occupied Croatia and engendered ethnic strife in the entire region. But the main thrust of the book is the religious nature of the conflict and what Sells describes as out and out genocide against Bosnian Muslims. This was perpetrated by both the Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs, with the latter seemingly the main culprit. Sells makes the case that the Serb's fanatical "Christoslavism" (a view that sees Slavs as inherently Christian and any Slavic converts to Islam as race traitors) was the driving force behind the entire conflict and describes the horrific consequences of this fanaticism. Bosnian civilians were routinely raped, tortured, and murdered with the support of many high ranking clergy. One of the most disturbing aspects of the situation was the attitudes and actions (or lack thereof) of the UN along with the American and European governments. Sells claims they knew genocide was happening but used the excuse of perennial conflict in the region to justify their non-action.

My only complaint would be that Sells is a bit heavy on the moralizing and comes across as quite anti-Christian. He even goes so far as to place the Bosnian genocide into an alleged long line of European (and American) Christian violence against non-Christians. While there may be some truth to this view, I would call it a gross simplification to say the least. Nevertheless, this was a compelling and disturbing read.

Well balanced and true
One more proof in numerous historical documents discussing the genocide and atrocities against Bosnian population. It points the finger in the right direction of the culprits. The book provides plenty of evidence that the genocide was committed by Serbian forces with blessings from Serbia and Montenegro.

More than The Bridge Betrayed!
Sells has been know to write interesting books covering issues and clashes between Christians and Muslims, due to his Serbian heritege and his background as a Professor and chairperson of the Department of Religion at Haverford College, in the US. He critisices his own in a very tough and honest way. Even if some fanatics will claim that he only speaks about the horrible acts of crime conducted by Serbians and Croats.
Sells gives us a detailed look into the, by the Serbs, created mythology. I say created, some of you may say revised, but in any case it hade the purpose to seduce it's own pepole to commit the most serious war crimes since the Soviet gulag camps or the concentration camps of the third rich.
Serbs use the death of Prince Lazar at the infamous battle in Kosovo between the Serbs and the Ottomans, Muslims have since been considered Christ killers and the primary target of Serb hatred. You can have your own opinions about this, but fact is that the Serbs used this myth to put a spell on there own people. Much like Adolf Hitler.

Sells writes in a way that many people might find hard to understand. Even if the book is only 150 pages it takes quite a while to get through. It is packed with information and it is not happy reading. It breaks your heart to hear about all the massacres that took place in Europe. As Europeans we should know better then let it happen again. And even as I knew about many of what Sells is writing, due to my background.
The West didn't do anything about the situation before it was too late. The reason tothis may be that they didn't want to argue with Russia in imbalance that only needed something to fuel a last fight against the capitalists. Comments, by Sells, about secret NATO supply stores can't be taken seriously due to the level of speculations surrounded the breakup of the Warzawa pact. Fact is that Sovjet hade huge supply stores in the former Yugoslavia. And Serbian leaders made sure to take control over those, at an early stage of the conflict.

It is hard for a European to hear that those genocidal theories were used again, didn't we learn anything??? The Orthodox church were involved in those crimes and that is something I didn't expect, but that's why we are protestants in Sweden, not fundamentalists.

In all, a really good book that will open your eyes to the crimes committed by people that should know better. Serbians and Croatians was involved in World war II and it seems that people that suffered want revenge, much like Israel...

BUY!!!

Awsome
I just finished reading this book and it was so intriguing that I finished it in one sitting. It will open your eyes, on the matter of Bosnia, so big that you'll be able to see the craters on Uranus, if there is any over there. Read it!

Solid
Sells gives us a solid account of the war in Bosnia in the early 1990's. However, I do have some criticisms. While he covers in quite abit of detail Croat and especially Serb religious fanaticism and violence, he only mentions the Bosniac's own atrocities on a couple of occasions.
The other problem is that the book is abit too short, when you see the price of the book (150 pages of actual text, excluding footnotes). ... Read more

Product Description
Since 1996, Bosnia & Herzegovina has been the site of a remarkable project of political engineering. A complex consortium of international agencies backed by Western governments have been transforming a devastated, ethnically partitioned, post-war territory into a multiethnic, democratic and economically viable state. Despite an enormous investment of personnel and resources, six years later BiHs post-Yugoslav future remains tenuous. Did the engineering project work? In an era when countries from Somalia to Afghanistan are confronting questions of state legitimacy amidst international intervention, Bosnia after Dayton is a fascinating study in the dilemmas of the post-Cold War international order. How effective are international peace-building interventions in fractured states? Is the preservation of a multinational state desirable--or even possible--where the majority of citizens only reluctantly acknowledge its legitimacy?Drawing on the authors extensive field experience, this book takes a hard look at the issues that Bosnia continues to face. Juxtaposing big-picture analysis with an intimate knowledge of the region, Bose situates the international communitys extensive program of state-building and democratization in BiH since the Dayton Peace Agreement in the context of Bosnia's and the former Yugoslavia's complex historical legacy of coexistence and conflict.Bose tells the gripping story of the divided city of Mostar, and analyzes the institutional structure and process of Dayton Bosnia. He dissects the making of the Dayton peace accords through American-led coercive diplomacy, and provides a constructive critique of international peace-building.A fascinating study of democratization in a divided society, this book promises to be a landmark in the literatures on former Yugoslavia, and international intervention. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best Book on Post-Conflict Bosnia
This is the best book on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the war ended in 1995. ... Read more

Product Description
Book Description

In 1992, Savo Heleta was a young Serbian boy enjoying an idyllic, peaceful childhood in Gorazde, a primarily Muslim city in Bosnia. At the age of just thirteen, Savo's life was turned upside down as war broke out. When Bosnian Serbs attacked the city, Savo and his family became objects of suspicion overnight. Through the next two years, they endured treatment that no human being should ever be subjected to. Their lives were threatened, they were shot at, terrorized, put in a detention camp, starved, and eventually stripped of everything they owned. But after two long years, Savo and his family managed to escape. And then the real transformation took place.

From his childhood before the war to his internment and eventual freedom, we follow Savo's emotional journey from a young teenager seeking retribution to a peace-seeking diplomat seeking healing and reconciliation. As the war unfolds, we meet the incredible people who helped shape Savo's life, from his brave younger sister Sanja to Meho, the family friend who would become the family's ultimate betrayer. Through it all, we begin to understand this young man's arduous struggle to forgive the very people he could no longer trust. At once powerful and elegiac, Not My Turn to Die offers a unique look at a conflict that continues to fascinate and enlighten us. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Direct, informative and very inspiring
Savo Heleta's experiences during the Bosnian War were horrific and maddening yet ultimately, his autobiography resembles a guide to peace and reconciliation rather than another sad, brutal war tale. Over and over again, Savo and his family members escaped death. I'm sure I hesitated to turn the page more than once for fear that one of the Heletas would not greet the next day, but Savo's voice kept beckoning. Even when he described moments without hope, I sensed such devotion to his dreams and love among his family in these pages that I just had to remain committed to their survival. This book is a huge contribution to the memoir genre and a great, straightforward introduction to the Bosnia and Herzegovina conflict, particularly for Westerners whose knowledge of the topic has only come from secondhand news reports. I encourage every history/political science teacher to add it to their curriculum too!

An important book
This book has helped me understand what my wife went through, living as a child in Bosnia. The book is well written and really got me thinking about the things I take for granted in day to day life. 5 stars!

Great book and inspiration for parents, too!
As a freelance writer and English tutor, who is also the mom of two young teen-age boys, I offer nothing but huge praise for this magnificent book! Couldn't put it down. My favorite genre has long been Memoirs, and I took a special interest in young people caught up in relatively recent wars after reading "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah last winter. Now I feel extremely lucky to have just picked up Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia, which I devoured in less than 2 days. I was spellbound by hearing the "voice" of a 13-year-old boy describing truly horrific obstacles, and how he managed to survive. The story was truly remarkable, the writing gripping, and Savo's enduring dedication to his peace-keeping goals and principals a rare and beautiful thing.

Also as a mom raising two sons, I feel I should say "kudos!" to Savo's parents for nurturing such an amazing human being. Their resilience and steadfast love throughout such incredible odds is likely what made the difference between Savo and his Bosnian friends who weren't so fortunate. He has pluck and talent to spare, and I've no doubt he'll have continued success in his future.

A Honest, Beautiful Memoir by an amazing person
Not My Turn To Die is a personal account of Savo Heleta who survived the Bosnian Conflict as a teenager.In many ways, we're blessed that Savo witnessed the best and the worst of humanity as a young Serb growing up in fear in the Muslim-controlled city of Gorazde.Whereas other books and memoirs tend to explain the political or religious conflicts of why the Bosnia civil war happened and endured, Not My Turn To Die just focuses on how the effects of a brutal siege affects Savo Heleta, his younger sister, his parents, and grandparents.Through the author's account, we see the worst of humanity on display, like neighbors and long-time friends turning on each other over ethnic lines or greed.Yet Savo's story is a journey of survival, helped by generosity of strangers who risked their lives to ensure that the Heleta family and other innocent bystanders have a future.I don't recall reading another book where I felt so angered by mankind and yet so moved at the same time.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.It's a brutal, honest reflection of one of the darkest hours of human history.Yet the author shows us that there's beauty that can arise from the ugliness.

Exceptional book
Not My Turn To Die was an excellent, eye opening book that touched my heart.It is a must read.The book has encouraged me too learn about not only the war and ethnic hatred that occurred in Serbia and Croatia but also other areas of the world. It was chosen as a required reading for my Ethnicity and Race course and was a perfect example of how quickly the race divide can get out of hand.The book is so well written you feel as if you are there with Savo, struggling to survive.My classmates and Ihad the pleasure of speaking with Savo post reading the book.He was extremely personable and it is obvious he is very determined to make a change in this world.Please do not hesitate to by this fantastic book, you will not be able to put it down. ... Read more