The Death of Yugoslavia

by Allan Little, Laura Silber, Aleksandar Ćirić (Illustrator)

"The Death of Yugoslavia" is a survey of the pressures and events that contributed to the break-up of former Yugoslavia, considered from a historical rather than a political or sociological point of view.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Politics, European History, Military History, 20th Century

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 1995

Reviews

[John Farebrother · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exhaustive chronicle of the Yugoslav Wars up until 1995, written by two journalists and substantiated by interviews with many of the main protagonists. As such an admirable and marathon task, acquitted honourably. However, 20 plus years later the weaknesses of such an approach are revealed. Firstly, writing such a book before the war was over necessarily meant that it missed the great upheavals of the second half of 1995 that brought an end to the conflict - the VRS offensives that led to Srebrenica, Operation Storm, and the Dayton peace accords. Never mind Kosovo. Secondly, the absence of a historical objective perspective means the authors were taken in by the prevailing pro-Izetbegović propaganda, and ignored the fact that his nationalism was mere mimicry of what Milošević and Tuđman were up to. In so doing they not only accepted as an inevitable fait accompli the destruction of "brotherhood and unity" in Bosnia, they condemned it as a historical and social aberration. Finally, the failure to engage with ordinary people on the ground means that only one voice was heard - that of the ruling classes, those able to make themselves heard, and largely the same people who had brought about and conducted the war, while the masses of IDPs and refugees were once again denied a voice. It is their story that is the most important aspect of the narrative of the Yugoslav Wars. But it's certainly a valuable ready-reference document.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a survey of the pressures and events that contributed to the break-up of former Yugoslavia, considered from a historical rather than a political or sociological point of view.

It is hard to comprehend that these events happend at my doorstep, in my lifetime - but it did and it forever changed my life...

Thanks to ruthless and greedy politicians, my country is still in chaos and still savagely trying to pick itself up from the gutter- still no luck...

This book broke my heart all over again...

[Ziggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the series ‘we have failed as mankind’…

From abusing nationalist tendencies of the common people to standing by idly during ethnic cleansing, as an outsider you can only read this as a historical text where all parties involved kept doing the wrong thing over and over again. Every bad decision made seemed to lead to an even worse situation than before.

Though the Yugoslavian wars involve an enormous amount of different characters responsible for the most devastating atrocities, the authors manage to explain every little item very detailed. By disentangling the incredibly complex political, militarial or contextual situation in seperate chapters, it is possible for a non-expert on the topic to grasp the many different timelines and events.

On a more personal level, this could only be read as a heartbreaking part of recent European history. I do not think it is possible that enough tears can be wasted on the sadness of these wars.

[Radiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed account of Yugoslavia’s slide into madness. My friend, who is a Croatian recommended this book to me to gain an overall understanding of the conflict. This book is packed with names, excerpts from interviews with key political figures, generals, UN peacekeeping commanders, dates and key events which triggered the war and the spark which ignited the inferno that eventually caused 7 nations to be carved out in blood.

The book is convincing in pushing the argument that the Yuglosav war was almost orchestrated by men who refused to give up their positions in power and would hold onto land grabs through the use of violence. This book was also very clear in highlighting the inertia of the European Community and the UN as they stood by and watched as Yugoslavia descended into chaos, how the UN had been duped into assisting the ethnic cleansing of the Bosnians from their villages and how Peacekeeping forces often stood by as Bosnian Muslims were massacred not a stone’s throw away from them. The excerpts from interviews of the commanders of the peackeepers were particularly heartfelt.

I would say I have gained knowledge of the events that led to this ugly war, but I have gained nothing in terms of understanding the motivations for the war. As the book highlighted, it made entirely no sense that where for centuries Croats, Serbs and Muslims have lived cheek to jowl, they suddenly became mortal enemies and turned on their neighbours to kill, maim, rape and pillage. The writers have done a good job in the format of this book. They chose to start with Milosevic’s rise to power and it really starts to pick up with the invasion of Srebrenica. However, I would have liked to see more of an analysis of the Kosovo Albanians as it was one of the first cards played by Milosevic to fan the flames of nationalism amongst the Serbs.

[Anna Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information in this book is remarkable, and it is packed with important names and dates. It does a thorough job of explaining the politics behind the Yugoslav wars in the '90's, and it provided so many details that it was easy to recreate an idea of the situation in Yugoslavia during this time.

That being said, this book was incredibly dense and at times frustrating. While I understand that books of this magnitude which strive to explain every aspect of an event will be packed with information and will require much patience and memory, the effort it took to get through this book almost did not justify the knowledge gained. I have read other books which are highly informative about this topic, which simply have a better flow to the language. The list and explanation of politicians and abbreviations at the front of the book was very useful (it became a crutch while I read the book), but because it existed the authors took very little time to explain who people were, yet another source of frustration with the writing.

Overall, the political exploration of this book is marvelous, but the writing is too dense for my taste and I would have liked more attention paid to the politics of countries such as Bosnia & Herzegovina. Understandably, there was much focus on Milosevic and Tudjman, as well as Kucan in Slovenia, but there were times when I found myself wondering what was occurring in the rest of Yugoslav politics. More explanation in that area would have been appreciated. I would recommend this book only if the reader has a good background with the Yugoslav wars and with the geography of the Balkans. However, if that is the case, this is an excellent resource for understanding the political situation after Tito's death.

[Michael VanZandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible, detailed account of the history of "Yugoslavia", from 1987 to 1990s, as it crumbled sadly into bitter nationalism.

It was refreshing to see Silber and Little tackling the notion that this was "inevitable" and that these people were destined to commit genocide [by the way, ethnic cleansing was introduced as a phrase from this region, at this time:]. For one, as the authors point out, it's a mockery of history, skewed by our hindsight. Secondly, it excuses the atrocities of the guilty, in this case, war criminals like Karadzic, Mladic and Milosevic. Lastly, it takes the burden of responsibility off of the international community, who watched as the Balkans became a hellish battleground.

The complexities of the history -- political, religious, ethnic/national -- become clear as day through meticulous book.

[Imran Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to understand the complexities of the civil war which followed the slow demise of Tito's Yugoslavia. It helps to break down the usual simplistic notions of 'Muslims vs Serbs vs Croats' into the finer nuanced colors which necessarily color such complicated wars. It's disappointing the war does not get more publicity as it demonstrates how quickly and badly things can go wrong in seemingly calm multi-cultural societies.

Almost as important, the book provides enough details about the international (read European and American) response for one to conclude 'no one cared' ... at least until it was too late.

A must read for anyone wanting to understand the Yugolsav civil war in just one book.

[Azra Kapetanovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was an experience

[Thomas Marku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jako zanimljivo štivo, mislim da bi ju svaki žitelj područja bivše Jugoslavije trebao pročitati. Veoma dobro opisan dio prije samoga sukoba odnosno jako dobro objašnjava događaje koje su se pretvorili u sukob i jako dobro objašnjava rane dane sukoba, kasnije je mrvicu opala kvaliteta pisanja o periodu samog rata, no knjiga je izdana praktički dok je rat još trajao tako da je to do premalog povijesnog odmaka i nedostupnosti informacija.

[Diogo Lorga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grande livro. Exige algum conhecimento prévio e por vezes é demasiado detalhado

[Andrew Clement · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as an entry point for research relating to my next literary project. It proved a solid overview of the conflicts and the socio-political context that lead to the Yugoslav wars. However, the authors themselves admit that their attempt to provide this overview necessitates some simplification; some aspects are completely -- almost jarringly -- left out, such as the case of Macedonia. I would have liked to see more investigation into the cases of Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro. The book was published in 1996, quite recently after the end of the wars, and some of the authors' concluding predictions relating to these regions proved strikingly accurate.
It's true that reading this book was sometimes demanding, because of the extensive cast of 'characters' involved. Still, this is to be expected given that this is an attempt to provide an historical accounting of the various conflicts that followed the breakup of an entire region. The authors do as good of a job as reasonably possible of weaving them into a narrative of ethnic histories, perceived interests and war aims that is at times riveting, shocking and sadly clinical. I read much of the book, especially the part related to Bosnia, with morbid fascination as it made the point that war is sometimes an effective method to get what one wants -- senseless and horrible, yet at the same time coldly logical.
While this book does not quite succeed in providing a totally comprehensive overview of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a broad explanation of the various conflicts, interests and players involved. Its a good place to start.

[Neil Cake · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was quite confusing at times, given the way it split the conflict into different subjects and events that later turned out to be happening concurrently. All those weird names were difficult too - remembering which nation they belonged to and which side they were on...

I had said previously that news events don't really exist for me until all the dust has settled and someone has written a book about it. The conflict in Yugoslavia was like that. It was all over the news, but to my pre-teen self it was incomprehensible, and so protracted with no sense of upcoming resolution that I had to just leave it aside - and wait for someone to write a book.

I thought this was that book, but it turns out that this was published before the conflict was even finished! So I'll need another book if I'm going to learn what happened in the end. I know though that certain players were charged with war crimes.

In spite of its complexity there is some useful information in here - particularly with regard to the impotence of the UN. Unfortunately, for the most part it is lacking in any kind of subjective narrative or clarity - no doubt due to being written while events transpired. In the end, the lack of clarity leaves it playing like a list of political events with no context.

[Chris May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll start with a couple of concessions as to why this book isn't perfect, but hopefully I can then explain why it still gets 5 stars.

First, before reading this book I didn't know much about the Yugoslav wars, at most it was a footnote to other areas of knowledge - NATO strikes showed that international intervention could work for example. What this means is that when I say 'I now kind of understand what happened in Yugoslavia', what I mean is 'I now kind of understand what this book told me about Yugoslavia.' From a little google-ing The Death of Yugoslavia appears to be authoritative and trusted (and it certainly appears credible when reading it) but my knowledge of the period is now based primarily on this book. Take from that what you will.

Second, and this almost put me off picking up the book, it was written while the Yugoslav wars were still ongoing. This means by the end Milošević is still president, Mladic is a free man, etc. As the Kosovo war was to come in the late 90s it is also only briefly touched on. This did leave me with some questions, however the book does such a good job of explaining the situation on Yugoslavia that as a reader you're now fully equipped to Google the rest - you've got the context.

So why, given what could be a deal-breaking shortcoming, is this still a five star book? Because it's great, that's why.

The authors give a balanced, nuanced view of the conflict and its tiggers often giving the actors themselves the ability to explain their actions - either through snippets of speeches or direct interviews. This is backed up by the authors narration and analysis of events, meaning that you the reader know the 'facts' as to what happened, but also the rationale each player had for their actions. In a conflict so comprised of old wounds, new tensions and ideas of race/ethnicity/religion this is invaluable.

The Death of Yugoslavia is also immensely readable. While the names of people, places and organisations at first appear impenetrable the authors structure the narrative in such a way that you're never far away from a reminder who so-and-so is or which side they're on (and there's a glossary of people and acronyms included! INVALUABLE).

I read this book because I wanted to understand what happened in Yugoslavia, knowing only that there had been 'some sort of civil war' and maybe a genocide there. Now I know what happened there and I enjoyed learning it. What more can you want?

[قصي بن خليفة · Rating 4 out of 5]

ماذا حدث في يوغوسلافيا؟ وما هي قصة البوسنة والهرسك

كنت قد عدت لتوي من زيارة لكرواتيا والبوسنة، ولي بعض المشاهدات والتساؤلات. بحثت عن كتاب في زغرب عن تاريخ الأحداث ونصحني البائع بهذا الكتاب، وحسب ادعاءه هو أفضل كتاب يعرض هذا التاريخ بموضوعية رغم تقاعس أوروبا، وربما الوضع أسوأ والخيانة أعظم، ولكن ما في الكتاب شهادات حق تستحق الاهتمام
~~~~
بدأت المشاكل من الوطنية الصربية وادعائهم بمظلومية الصرب في كوسوفو وكرواتيا وغيرها. وتفاصيل كثيرة عن البدايات وعن الحوارات واللقاءات السياسية، ولابد من هذه التفاصيل ليعرف القارئ أن الحرب لم تأت هكذا من فراغ وإنما من موقف إلى آخر إلى حدث إلى آخر وهكذا. وربما هذا هدف الكتاب الأساسي.... سمعت كثيراً عن علي عزت بيجوفيتش ولكن هنا احترمته أكثر واحترمت الشعب البوسني الأبي... مع العلم أن الكاتبين لم يعطيا النضال البوسني حقه إلا إنك لا تملك إلا أن تراه في ثنايا الأحداث
~~~~
الكتاب كبير ولا تخدعك خفته وصغر حجمه فقد طُبعت حروفه بخط صغير جداً وبالكاد قلّت صفحاته عن 400 صفحة! ولكن لا تجزع فهو حلو القراءة ذو ترتيب جيد يحافظ على تسلسل الأفكار ولن تفقد المتابعة رغم التفاصيل الإدارية السياسية.... ولكن يعيبه أنه كُتب قبل نهاية الأحداث واتفاقية دايتون وغيرها، وهي كثيرة ومهمة، مما جعلني أبحث في يوتيوب عن تأريخ للفترة من برامج بي بي سي على ما أظن، وهذه شهادة للكتاب فقد خلق لديّ اهتماماً كبيراً بالموضوع ولم أمله
~~~~
تعلمت من هذا التاريخ أهمية المساواة بين الناس وأن هذه النعرات بغيضة، وأنها منتنة كما قال رسولنا الكريم عليه الصلاة والسلام. ففعلاً تجد كل من رفع شعار القومية تجده ظالماً لغيره من القوميات. فهي تنتمي للعرق وليس للقانون والنظام. ولا تعرف حق ولا باطل
~~~~
توجد حقيقة مرة في كل هذه الأحداث! وهي أن كل الشعوب المتحاربة تقرر مصيرها بنفسها، وكل حكامها وصلوا للحكم بالانتخاب وليس بالقهر، رغم محاولات ميلوسوفيتش ولكنه فشل وانصاع لرغبة الشعب
~~~~
البعض كان لديهم خطابين في جيوبهم، لا يدرون من الذي سيفوز، لأن رزقهم ومستقبلهم يعتمد على النظام السياسي. (يعني موظفين) ولذلك فالمصلحة هي كل شيء وليس الحق والباطل. كما هو الحال في كل مكان ما عدا.... البعض

[John Poole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The complexities of the breakup of Yugoslavia is presented here as a mixture of strong personalities, agendas and national movements. Written in 1995 just after the events told, it's not history when it was written although it is presented as serious research. Little and Siber do a good job of bringing out the details, intricacies and complexity - what this is missing is clarity that hindsight brings. It worth reading now a window into the world that existed in the 1990's and the way that world was views at the time it was happening.

[Matt Boulding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this on my holiday in Croatia, so it seemed appropriate. It was a huge slog to get through even the small parts. It's incredibly informative and well researched, but the writing style makes any info impossible to stick in your head. I don't think I've retained anything from the 150 pages I got through before the DNF. It doesn't even have the school textbook approach of breaking things down into digestible chunks. A smarter person than me wouldn't find it as impenetrable, but history books should be easier to read than this, I think.

[Cristian Istrati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seen the BBC documentary "The Death of Yugoslavia", and as soon as I found out that there's a book alongside it, I wanted to get my hands on it. I wasn't disappointed. All the actors of the drama that was the breakup of Yugoslavia get to show their point of view. The book is easy to read, and it got me from the first paragraph :).
I totally recommend it.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Bosnia-focused, which was the main theatre of conflict during the Yugoslav wars but I was hoping for a bit more detail about Croatia. I had prior knowledge of the wars themselves but not so much about what led to them or the negotiations that took place during, which is what much of the contents of this book covers. Good read for those with a little bit of prior knowledge.

[Dave Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the grimiest wars of the 20th century which had been forgotten by most people today.
Death of Yugoslavia offers a warning to those who will not lean form the lessons offered.

[Satyaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

[Ben Catterall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight and detail

[Tara Rhoseyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was driving around Bosnia I would see cemeteries, memorials, and bombed-out buildings everywhere. This book gave me a deeper understanding on why and how Yugoslavia broke apart and ultimately descended into violence. Not the best written book in the world, but a good insight into a big topic.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you found following the ever shifting landscape of alliances in the political theatre confusing in the extreme, books like this are a real godsend, providing historical perspective to a period of immense and unimaginable upheaval in the southern Balkans. Needless to say, it's a fantastically engrossing account of a terrible half decade which saw Croats and Serbs at each others throats and in shady alliance by turn, all with awful consequences for the Muslims of Bosnia.

It's as balanced an account as it can be with Franjo Tudjman and Slobodan Milošević machiavellian in the extreme and the latter's sudden dropping of the Bosnian Serbs outrageously audacious. Nor does the thinly veiled 'they're all nutters' subtext hold any weight at all - most people had happily existed in a multicultural, multiethnic society for centuries - it's a pity that the devisers of the Dayton Accord so cynically took advantage of the results of ethnic cleansing even if it will have seemed politic to do at the time.

The book accompanies a 4 part BBC TV series which has to be a must-watch. If I had one quibble, it's that the volume was published very soon after the events it recounts and hasn't been updated since 2004. I'm going to Serbia in a few weeks and will be interested to know how the situation is now.

[Willa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent background to the utterly confusing history of the Balkan wars. It is the first account that made me understand what happened, and why. They authors have achieved this by a sublime act of journalism: facts, just facts, without any bias, which achieve more than any emotionally charged account could ever do. You walk away with a deep sense of outrage about how much went wrong in this tragic episode of humanity, clearly seeing who were the main perpetradours and who were the main victims, yet without throwing around blame. The whole situation was much too complex for that - yet that does not absolve anyone from healthy outrage and learning lessons for the future. A deeply disturbing yet clarifying and therefore satisfying read on how much can go wrong with human beings.

[Russ Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to re read after an excellent week's holiday in Croatia. I went to Dubrovnik where there were a number of memorials to those killed in the bombardment of the old town, as well as a number of copies of this book in a Dubrovnik bookshop.
This is still a fascinating and (thought? anger?) provoking read on the greatest tragedy in Europe since the last war, mainly due to the inclusion of interviews with most of the main participants. It has been so long since I last read this, the story still has the capacity to anger me, but last time most of the guiltiest parties were still at liberty. Now they're not for the most part, with Karadic & Mladic decorating cells in The Hague.

[Zachary Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good journalistic account of the events of the early 1990s leading to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and the wars that followed. The authors spread blame for the events around to numerous groups rather than writing a good versus evil narrative. The root cause identified by the authors for the end of Yugoslavia is the re-emergence of Slovene, Serbian and Croatian nationalism in the late 1980s. Starting with the emergence of nationalist movements, the book moves through accounts pf the political and diplomatic crises leading up to the war before covering the events of the war itself.

[Kym Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book that covers the comprehensive BBC series of the same name. Both were written during the bloody civil war and while they do attempt to gain the perspectives from all parties involved the book suffers from most 'at the time' writings in that it does not allow for historical perspective.

That being said, when I read this book, it was fresh from the print and much of what is covered was tragically only recent. So at the time it was crucial and relevant to understand a terrible part in Human history.

Definitely an important though heavy read for any one interested in modern history.

85 %

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read if you want to know about or visit the former Yugoslavia (which I recommend). I read it during my second tour in Sarajevo for SFOR. Learn about the sheer vindictiveness of the warring parties, you will agree there is evil in the world. There were no good guys in this war, only the less bad. Having close Slovenian friends, I may not be objective, but the seccession of Slovenia is the only bright spot in the entire episode.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite heavy going to begin with, due to the number of different people/groups involved, but it gets easier from around the half-way point, and is a really informative read about (unfortunately) the horror of ethnic 'cleansing' and civil war in the former country of Yugoslavia.

[David Boett]

Outstanding for its insight and interviews with the central actors in the conflict that broke up Yugoslavia after Tito's death. Parallel history with NATO's involvement and lead up into the discovery and trials for mass killings.