Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation

Somehow, great reporters become famous after servicing in some type of 'tiranny', like a South American, a Middle Eastern or even a Balkan country. What this BBC correspondents did in Yugoslavia is a true masterpiece. They were able even to read the mind of politicians and war generals; they didn't miss a single point of the action, and their book reads like replaying events occurred now a decade ago.

If you read only one book on the tragedy that befell Yugoslavia in the 90s this book is the one. Deeply if subtly analytical to satisfy the social scientist, profoundly sensitive to empirical detail to please the historian, this account ranks as the best journalism of its day. It can and should be read by the widest audience: scholar, policy-maker, or generalist. I would go so far to say that not reading this book is an irresponsible act.

This book contained much better information about what was happening in Bosnia and Sarajevo than the media did. I don't think the media understood it anymore than the rest of the world after reading this. I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

Whew! Dense, fast and furious and full of many perspectives, this book is well worth the read for those who want a comprehensive review of the demise of the Yugoslav state. There are parts of the book that read like a good spy mystery, and parts that are dreadfully dull. But, overall, I haven't seen a better source of background to the crisis in the Balkans. It is only a start and a whirlwind tour. Nonetheless, this is the best available overview of this complex situation. Just don't stop here. And, any good overview does exactly what this book does, makes you want to know more.

Being closely affected by the entire catastrophy of the last 12 years in Yugoslavia I have read almost everything avaliable on Amazon and in the bookstores pertaining to the subject. This is the Mother Goose of all the books on the last 12 years in the region. One realizes this because all other books quote this one quite often. They are usually recycled or paraphrazed parts of Laura Silber's book. The book is cold and unemotional the way a book about such an event should be. It didnt leave anything out and the sequence of events is perfect. Everything that came after this books publishing was either forshadowed or is just an effect of things in this book. On the other hand if one wants to read books by clowns who were responsible for everything allow me to recommend Slobodan Milosevics' "Years of decisions", Holbrookes "To end a War" (sic. but only when my Q rating is really high), Zimmermanns "Origins of a catastophe"(sic. was blind but now can see). Read this book, understand what and how went on and hold your own against any expert on the subject.