How Bosnia Armed

Hoare's book is of exceptional importance precisely because it is not part of the propaganda war that is taking place outside Bosnia's borders about Bosnia and its recent past. Rather, it represents an attempt to explore, without succumbing to the two dominant stereotypes of `Islamic fundamentalism' and `multi-ethnic Bosnia', how and why a war that began as a defence of Bosnia ended as a Bosniak struggle for survival... In his introduction to Hoare's book Brendan Simms, author of the best analysis published thus far of British diplomacy regarding the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, says that he wishes he had been in a position to consult the work when writing his own. Hoare's approach to Bosnia differs from that of participants in, or witnesses of, the events that he covers; but his advantage lies in the fact that, being neither, he is not a prisoner of memories. The idea that the war should end without a victory was certainly not Bosnian, but his book explains the circumstances that led it to be accepted at the very point when the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina was poised to win the war, leading to the surprising conclusion of the war ending in neither victory nor defeat. His research is important for all those who in their different ways are involved with Bosnia, but it is only a Bosnian translation of the work that will permit a critical reading of it, by counterposing the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina's own image of itself with that reconstructed by the British historian.
Gordana Knezevic