Since Yugoslavia disintegrated, there have been dozens of books written about the region, its history and the troubles there. Some are good, a few are excellent, but most are lacking. Sarajevo Daily sadly falls into the latter category. Gjelten uses the cities daily newspaper Oslobodjenje as a metaphor for the the destruction of Yugoslavia and as an example of the painful bloodletting Sarajevo experienced. The idea works to some extent, and the book is well written - Gjelten is a journalist, after all. But it is the way in which the topic is approached that left me wanting. There is no doubt that the violence in Sarajevo was heart-wrenching. Yet one cannot help but think that events there are greater than the daily challenges of a newspaper and its staff. A better book by far is Misha Glenny's The Balkans.

Having worked for IFOR and SFOR as an Army negotiator and now married to a Bosnian, I am compelled by appreciation to comment on the profound depth and accuracy Mr. Gjelten achieved in exposing the psyche and drama of this war through individuals he met there. Although the book centers on the newspaper and the city, it is also the story of most of Bosnia - the heroes, the villains, the heartbreak, the insanity, the desertion of life-long friends or spouses due to nationalism fueled by propaganda. Propaganda that generated fear and hatred. I have heard similar stories from other parts of Bosnia. To my knowledge, this is the only book that provides such a clear portrayal of the way it was (and in some ways, the way it still is). I am saddened that the book was not financially successful enough to remain in print. I would definitely recommend it to any persons, particularly Civil Affairs types, that go to Bosnia and deal one-on-one with the people there. I apologize that I have neglected to remark that Mr. Gjelten also wrote this book in a very readable style and he is an excellent story-teller. For me, it is one of those books that I will be reading repeatedly over time.

I served in Bosnia with IFOR from Jul to Dec 96, and visited Sarajevo. I wished I had known of this book before I went, because it was the best narrative of the war I have read. This book was superb because it helped me feel what the Sarajevans felt, and see through their eyes what life was like in their city during the long siege. It also helped me better understand the mixture of cultures that was so abhorent to the Serbs who tried to crush this wonderful city. I am truly glad they failed. Sarajevo today is a bustling thriving city, and it will triumph over the unconsciousable attempts of its enemies to destroy it. This is largely due to the courageous efforts of people like those who produced Sarajevo Daily.

This is a comic book, entirely. There is no text (other than that in the text bubbles), no bibliography, no substantiation of the material presented, no analysis. The historical accuracy of the events presented has nothing to provide verification. If you're looking for a book to provide information regarding the war in Bosnia, this isn't it. If you use comic books as your basis for knowledge and understanding, this is probably a good book. If you can read above a 2nd grade level, this book is below you. Unfortunately, there were but two pages scanned to preview before purchase. Also unfortunately, it appears that the literary world is devoid of quality books regarding the war. If you're desparate for a deeper understanding of the war, this book will be a great disappointment.

While Sacco does provide a few pieces of historical and political detail to establish the context of his stories, this book is not an overall account of the war in Bosnia. As he did in PALESTINE, he combines the oral histories of his interviewees with his own observations on conditions in the enclave as well as his feelings about being in a danger zone. He keeps his primary focus on roughly half a dozen people, which helps to structure the collection of vignettes into something of a narrative, while also including interviews with a number of other people. Sacco stands back and lets the interviewees tell their stories, keeping his editorializing and personal reflections to interludes. You can feel his outrage over the conditions and the circumstances, but he doesn't allow that outrage to boil over and distract from the story. Despite the comments of Christopher Hitchens in his introduction, I think this approach serves Sacco well. It ensures that the reader will not be able to distract himself from the brutality and suffering by getting caught up in critiquing the author's tone.

And there is plenty of brutality and devastation here. Sacco's artwork is detailed and expressive, not gruesome for shock value's sake but unflinching in its depictions of wartime injuries and combat medicine under the worst possible conditions. You can't help but wonder not only how human beings could be so cruel to each other, but how other human beings could stand back and let it happen.

Sacco shows the human side of the Yugoslavian war through a brilliant and effective combination of prose and comic book illustration. Not only does he provide a history and time line of the conflict, but also what it meant to the people who lived through it - and those who didn't. Sacco portrays aspects of the war that the press seemed to miss. Shocking, but a must-read!

Only intellectual blindness may prevent reader to instantly recognize Stephen Schwartz subjective and groundless interpretation of history.
His comic conclusions, and irresponsible pro-Albanian propaganda are only surpassed by his blunt and mindless hatred of anything and everything that is Slavic.
Don't waste your money...

Considering its location, in the continent considered as the hearth of modern knowledge, culture and science, there hardly exists any other place about which the world knows less than Kosovo. So every attempt to enlighten this obscure part of Europe should be congratulated. The matter becomes even more important after one of the most recent wars, where NATO, the world's biggest and best-equipped military force, was involved.
Schwartz begins with discussing the origins of Albanians and Slavs, their first historical evidences about the inhabitation of the region, and their encounter from the Slavic invasion of the Balkans throughout the Ottoman era. He then goes through the post Balkan Wars and the two World Wars - when Serbia conquered and consolidated its rule over Kosovo, backed by the victorious powers, as a reward for being their war ally. Kosovo was added to the big newly formed YugoSlavia, and with the isolation of its motherland Albania by the communist regime of Enver Hoxha who did or could do nothing about Kosovo; it was left alone like an orphan amidst Slavs, its eternal enemy. The author in the following section focuses on this part properly, since it forced Kosovars (as the Kosovo Albanians are called) to rely on and organize among themselves, under the continuously growing discrimination and pressure by Slavs. Lastly, Schwartz analyses the post-communist period, overloaded with significant developments for this case. Loss of trust to nonviolence resistance, which was surprisingly "rewarded" with massacres by the Milosevic regime, led to the formation of Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK). This is the starting point of armed conflict between Serbs and Albanians, which brought NATO airpower on the skies of Yugoslavia for 78 days.
The author could do better in the last chapter 1999 - Intervention and its aftermath. He is not able to make a clear analysis of the consequences of the intervention, probably because time is needed for these fresh events, whose impact goes on even today, to become pure history. He could also give some alternative or prediction about the final status of Kosovo, which is still unresolved and unknown even to those interested most: the Kosovars, the West, and the Balkan countries.
But Schwartz has special merits for successfully referring to and examining both Slavic and Albanian non/official sources, considering the huge inconsistencies among them, to make the book clear and highly readable. He also seems to successfully reach his goal of writing this book, giving a "background to a war", by analyzing and combining history, culture and even myths or other psychological factors, which contributed to the formation of the identities involved in the conflict. He extracts old and new, well-known and usually unknown facts and evidences to many of the Westerners and even domestic inhabitants, evaluates and serves them in a easily comprehendible fashion to all readers who want to have an insight in the case.
So the book deserves an important place among many of the books that are being written recently about Kosovo. It is highly recommendable especially to those exploring the conflict in depth since "it is drawn on sources previously ignored by non-Balkan authors" and maintains an impartial position, different from that of Balkan writers who advocate their own or particular group/countries' interests.
Klediol Murati, June 11, 2003
IR Student, Middle East Technical University

KOSOVO: Background to a War (UK) by Stephen Schwartz provides a concise yet detailed account of the main historical and cultural political currents that created the necessity for the NATO intervention and occupation. Schwartz is an especially astute observer of telling historical parallels and refined ethnic sensibilities, probably because he speaks the languages and makes himself available to discuss the political and religious implications with soldiers, politicians, scholars and common people. The study represents a political analysis of the central issues between the Serbs and Albanians that continues to exasperate the area.

Unlike many political commentaries this work provides glimpses of the history, culture, literature, poetry and passion of the people making this account rich read with the narrative flow of a novel.

This book is very poor indeed. It is very badly written, inaccurate, poorly organised and woefully out of date.

This book is a bible for lawyers who wish to practice international criminal law. It is the only text which provides summaries of the precedents of the ICTY and ICTR. The authors organize and index the book well, and their own commentaries into the decisions provide the insight of experienced trial lawyers in these courts. It would be malpractice for any lawyer to set foot in these courts without Ackerman and O'Sullivan's book.

Being familiar with the importance of the ICTY to the growth of international criminal law, I am pleased to see a book which details the actual functioning of such a Tribunal through its case law. To be able to easily access information regarding the Statute and the Rules of Procedure as it has been laid out by Ackerman and O'Sullivan places this volume head and shoulders above its competition.

Those who teach in the domains of internatonal criminal law or humanitarian law would be remisted from not including this volume on their required reading list. It provides students with an in-depth understanding of the first court to try international criminals since Nuremburg. This effort is a must for any law library.

Dr. Jean Allain is Assitant Professor of Public International Law, The American Univeristy in Cairo

while john r. lampe's book is accurate and very readable, Iwould still like to point out some problems. the main one is, that theauthor deals with slovenians and macedonians very briefly, more like an afterthought. as a slovenian, I may feel a bit strongly about it, but I would like to give two examples: there is no mention of the isonzo front (first world war, between italy and austro-hungary), which went on for twelve battles and has its own novel (and film) - farwell to arms. also, the ossimo accords, which finalized the border between yugoslavia (now slovenia) and italy are not mentioned -and they are important, since italy used them to present all sorts of obstacles to slovenia after 1991. the book is still very much worth reading, but keep in mind that the slovenians (and I imagine the macedonians) are not given the adequate space. read something else as well!

Although this is a general history of Yugoslavia, from ancient times up to 1992, the analysis reflects the fact that Lampe is first and foremost an economic historian.

Lampe's "Yugoslavia as History" is probably the first book that deals with the entire history of Yugoslavia from its inception in 1918 to its collapse in 1991. While discussing pre-1918 developments and (very summarily) post-1991 events, he focuses his discussion on Yugoslavia as it actually existed, doing a commendable job of viewing past events on their own terms rather than through the prism of present-day events (the primary flaw of many recent historical works written both by former Yugoslav and outside scholars, commentators, etc.). Lampe's primary expertise is economic history, and this is evident in his strong analysis of Yugoslavia's frequent economic problems, which would be a crucial factor in the country's eventual downfall. However, this means he often gives short shrift to the cultural, social and intellectual antagonisms which gave expression to the country's underlying problems. Also, while socialist Yugoslavia's decentralized political structure did foment the development of separate economic, social and intellectual cultures, there were also many factors that bound Yugoslav citizens and did create a some sense of community (he only touches on sports and film, but almost completely ignores literature and pop music). Indeed, this appearance of a rudimentary common culture was what made Yugoslavia's violent breakdown so shocking to people in the county itself and to outside experts. Even so, "Yugoslavia as History" is a very strong survey of the country's troubled history and a very useful resource for students and others - it is much, much better and more informative than the many "instant histories" (a term I think Lampe himself used in a journal article) which appeared in droves once Yugoslavia did break up and the war started. The book is also, by the way, a very good reflection and summary of the main streams of American historiography on the former Yugoslavia.

Given the immense amount of research and effort the author put into this book, I'd like to give it a more positive evaluation. This is a very detailed, almost exhaustive account of Serbian political events and conflicts during the 1990s (up to mid-1998). In many ways it serves as a useful reference guide - but only for those already familiar with the complexities of politics in the former Yugoslavia. This is perhaps the book's central flaw: it seems to assume that readers will already have a handle on events and politics in Yugoslavia as a whole during the late 1980s, as well as the wartime events during the early 1990s in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, so that the author just rambles on about the political tug-of-war going on among various Serbian politicians and political parties. At times Thomas spends too much time discussing the squabbles between the leaders of Serbia's largely ineffective opposition parties, while ignoring the overall political, social and economic situation in Serbia. Thus there is little discussion of the growth of organized crime as the Serbian economy flagged under the burden of international sanctions nor, crucially, of the ensuing close ties and collaboration between mob leaders and the political elite. Also, and quite strangely, there is relatively little discussion or in-depth analysis of perhaps the most important figure in Serbian politics for the last fifteen years: Slobodan Milosevic. Other than some very general analysis in his introduction and conclusion, Milosevic is otherwise treated by Thomas as some sort of gray eminence of Serbian politics, always pulling the levers, but rarely seen. Therefore, this book is disappointing in many ways. One can only hope that if the author decides to do a revised edition to cover the events of 1999 (the Kosovo crisis and the NATO air strikes) he will also thoroughly rework the entire text.

Thomas does an excellent job of treating the blow-by-blow behavior of Serbia's political leaders in the 1990s. As a political scientist researching the Balkans, I rely on this book heavily to recall who did what to whom when.

I second some of the comments made by an earlier reviewer (Bosnar?). The book does presume some deeper knowledge of the players in Serbian politics (and, happily, pays attention as well to plenty of 'lieutenants'.) While it summarizes some of the context involving economic difficulties, the paramilitarization of some semi-political groupings, and relationships between Serbs in Serbia proper and Bosnian Serbs, it does tend to treat parties somewhat in isolation from their environmental context. It is also emphatically not a biography of Slobodan Milosevic, although it mentions some of the events surrounding his rise in the early days. (Nearly everything you've read on Milosevic's biography in any English source most likely originated in the stunningly detailed works of Slavoljub Djukic, which are all in Serbian. I dearly hope somebody will put him in touch with a publisher who will translate him into English and give him the marketing boost he's missing in the West.)

Granted, some of the juiciest information is simply hard to obtain, particularly with regard to the "mafia-tization" of the state-dominated economy and the economic "reform" process in general. But that's where the real battle for power is all across the Balkans, and any treatment of parties in these countries must address the rewards they seek and sometimes achieve at any level of political power. This is particularly the case for Serbia, where political control over the new business class is the tightest, and sometimes the most deadly. Given Thomas' great familiarity with parties and their primary leaders, one would think he wields at least a passing level of familiarity of the political battles for economic power in Serbia. Certainly any later update of this book should reflect the post-Zajedno scene on this score, as the regime's latest maneuverings emphasize how worried they are about electoral loss while they attempt to cushion any potential fall by shifting their power into the economic realm, i.e., into the nests they've feathered for 10 years.

Note that this book, while good about reporting electoral results, will not be sufficient in and of itself for those doing or seeking more in-depth electoral behavior studies. It also tends to emphasize the rhetoric of political leaders--sometimes striking and self-explanatory in itself--again, for knowledgeable readers--but not always examined or probed for its validity or intent. Still, one has to be impressed with Thomas' assiduous collection of the Serbian press (back when it was functioning semi-normally), and he does a very good job when it comes to interpretation of some of the gaps.

The introductory chapter raises some interesting conceptual points, but really does not provide a tight, convincing methodological argument despite some attempt at appearances. One should realize that Thomas hails from a more British/European orientation of political science, resulting in a more narrative/chronological story as opposed to rigorously developed argumentation. For example, you will get an excellent description of the bitter internecine warfare among opposition leaders, but not an explanation as to why.

I don't mean to slight the book overmuch: we need good, well-researched description as a necessary foundation before we can attempt more convincing causal theories, and Thomas gives us a wealth of excellent material on the case of Serbia. It's an essential work for observers of contemporary Balkan politics, whether political scientists, journalists, or interested laypeople, and that's why I give it four stars.

Despite the array of books published on former Yugoslavia in recent years, only few have dealt with Serbia, although politics in Serbia have clearly determined the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The book by Thomas is surprisingly balanced and loaded with facts hard to come by eleswhere. Although a more analytical approach might be desirable, the chronological account of Serbian politics is useful for anybody researching of former Yugoslavia and a "must" for those working on Serbia.

I felt this book was well written and researched, but not nearly as good as Monica's autobiography. There are some factual errors here and there, but overall this book is a good insight to Monica's career. There are also some black & white photos, which are a good touch. The important thing to discuss here is not what would have or might have been, nor the whole Graf-issue, but the quality of this book. It is pointless to have reviews which contain little to no help to fellow readers. That's why I'd recommend this book to any TRUE Monica fan.

I thought the book was okay but not great. I think what happened to Monica was tragic, but she played great in her first couple of tournaments when she returned but suffered a loss of form after winning the 1996 Australian Open. I think that loss of form was due to lack of conditioning. My point is how can she play so well at the 1995 Canadian Open and 1995 U.S. Open and play not as well since that time period. It was a bad situation but Steffi Graf was unfairly criticized by some tennis fans for the Seles attack by Gunther Parche, when in reality no sane fan would attack a rival of Graf's. Graf held her own against Seles, so the attack by this particular fan was irrational and pointless. It robbed the game of the best player in the world at the time and possibly someone that could have been the greatest player ever. Now Graf has to live with the stigma that she only regained the top spot because of the attack, when in reality we will never know if Graf could have regained the top spot if the attack never happened.

It is a great book! You have done a great job. It is perfect that you've included a lot of information. You have written about Monica's childhood, what was just perfect. There was also a lot of information about how Monica was training, the way she was winning her tournaments. Everybody who is interested in Monica (tennis), even if you are not you WILL ENJOY THIS BOOK!!!!

The Making of America's Bosnia Policy

Getting to Dayton is an extremely well-written analysis of how the United States became actively engaged in Bosnia in 1995. Daalder weaves the story of how policy makers in Washington actually made (and make) their decisions. He possesses intimate knowledge of the actors in the story and has enormous regard for the delicate sequencing of events. His research, which is based on personal interviews, extensive reviews of available literature, and personal experience in the White House, marks this book not only as one of the best books on U.S. Bosnia policy but on the structure of U.S. policy making. The book is of equal interest to both those inside and outside the Beltway.

I read this book after I had served in Bosnia, for the US Army. This book gave real insight into the creation of the Tito-era Yugoslavia, and what came afterwards. I was surprised at the violence of the three-way civil war that was within WW II in Yugoslavia, and how it played out into the war of the 1990's. I highly recommend this book to others interested in a good account of the history of the socialist Yugoslavia.

Djilas was Tito's 2nd man in the communist partisan movement in WWII. They fought against Germans, Italians, Hungarians, Royal Serbs (Tschetnizi) and national Croats (Ustashi) and succeeded. Often left alone by their allies (east and west), they faced death more than once. But this is not a heroic recount of that time, no pro-communist biased official praise.

Djilan, who was arrested in the 50ies and 60ies for openly opposing comunism/stalinism here gives an evenhanded account on how things were, not sparing out the atrocities done by the partisans.

The book is easy to read, but a little short on background information, so you'll have to check some facts, names, places yourself.

One of the best books on WWII I've read.

After reading this book, I bought a copy for my son who is a U.S Army paratrooper expecting to be deployed to Kosovo. The author provides good perspective on the history & demise of Yugoslavia, and on subsequent events up to 1995. While especially critical of the Serbs, he demonstrates flaws and errors on nearly every hand, local or global, that have contributed to the terrible events in the region. Some of the analysis seems eerily prescient given the ability to read it with five years more gone by. The brevity of the book is a mixed blessing -- so many people, places and organizations come into play, with so little detail given on each, that I frequently forgot who was who or got different ones confused with each other. However, like the individual stitches in a tapestry, the details still present an overall pattern that has helped me understand the news and recent history much more clearly -- but you have to want to read it. The one crying need in the book is for maps. Each of the three small line drawing maps covers a long and imprecise time period and lacks detail. No topographical features are shown, some political boundaries are indicated vaguely aand others not at all. Many cities and locales that figure prominently in the text are not on any of the maps. I came away with a clearer picture of the politics and ethnicity but completely unable to relate any of my new knowledge to the geography of the region. If you buy the book, get several maps of the region to use with it.

Christopher Bennett gives a very accurate history of Yugoslavia from before WWI up to 1994. Very detailed beginning with 1980 forward. Very informative. Worked well for a research paper I prepared using it.