Seasons in Hell: Understanding Bosnia's War

by Ed Vulliamy

A shocking chronicle of the war raging in Bosnia-Herzegovina offers a close-up look at the atocities of 'ethnic cleansing' giving a glimpse of the realities of modern concentration camps, and provides an explanation of the conflict's historical background.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, War, Journalism

370 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update at 30%

Still far from the end, but I just realized the reason this book reads differently than all the other (English-based) texts written about Bosnia (by someone who isn't from Bosnia) is that this book was published in 1994 as the war was happening and the individual essays were written during its height, before the rest of the world learned of the details and death tolls and long before footage of the camps and mass graves hit mainstream news channels. The writing reflects that perspective, that there was no end in sight, no possible resolution, no way out for the civilians stuck inside the constantly moving borders, and no consequential interference from the outside world.

There's a follow-up text, The War is Dead, Long Live the War: Bosnia: the Reckoning, published in 2012 which, I assume, reflects on the end of the war, the three state "resolution," and the years since. Of course I will have to read it, but maybe not immediately after finishing this book. Getting through this one will be hard enough and it doesn't even cover the rest of 1994 or the beginning of the end of the war.

I went into this text looking for answers that the sources and reference lists at the end of Wikipedia pages couldn't give me, and I was looking for a text that was as close to a primary source as possible. This one checked most of the boxes. While I haven't found all the answers I was looking for, I do like the writing style. Ed Vulliamy's writing is easy to read and he himself appears transparent, but he's not a passive or coy bystander like most war journalists seem to be. He's upfront about where he stands in regards to this conflict and you know right from the beginning whether or not you should read further.

This text is probably not for everyone given the subject matter and the author's unflinching look at the war. For me personally, I like his attitude and perspective.

* * * * *

Done.

Fiction will never scare me the way nonfiction can. This text is among the list of autobiographical war journalism that will haunt me for a good long time, probably forever.

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a copy of this largely at the library back during the (Clinton) Impeachment Proceedings; it was a heady time of salsa bagels and diet pepsi with lemon. I actually had to insert the fruit. That appears to be a lifetime ago. I no longer drink soft drinks; there are now no bagel spots in this backwater and my life tumbled before moving onward. This book both humbled and haunted. Difficult to say whether it alone pushed me towards destiny. Likewise Balkan Ghosts was very significant for me. I broached it the other night after my initial reading 25 years ago. I found it to be jaundiced journalism, which isn't exactly an endangered phenomenon.

[John Valdez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ed Vulliamy wrote Seasons in Hell during the Bosnian conflict, focusing on the years 1992-1993. He published the book in 1994, one year before the conclusion of the bloodshed. As a result, it does not discuss the pivotal year of 1995, which saw the Srebrenica massacre, full scale NATO involvement, and the war-ending Dayton Agreement. However, he begins his book by discussing the Croatian War as a prelude to the Bosian conflict and provides quite a bit of fascinating history on medieval Yugoslavia, in which the seeds of the 90s Balkans wars took root. After discussing this history, he goes into the war itself discussing the fate of the various regions and cities making up Bosnia-Herzegovina as they came under siege by the warring parties. Much of the book is difficult as he describes the ethnic cleansing and massacres leveled against civilians during key operations of the war. He discusses the concentration camps the sides set up to aid them in their crimes. He pays quite a bit of attention to the ineptitude of the West in its inability to deal with the suffering despite knowing the extent of the crimes against humanity befalling each group, with the Bosnian Muslims being the primary victims. While many books on the subject deal with the war between the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims, he does discuss the war between the one-time allies Bosnian Croats and Muslims. Throughout, he provides first hand accounts and interviews with victims of violence and ethnic cleansing. The book is very readable while providing an extensive overview of the war’s first two years. While Seasons in Hell ends before the Bosnian War’s resolution, he published The War is Dead, Long Live the War in 2012. Focusing primarily on the camps, his 2nd book does discuss the end of this tragedy in that work.

[Jeff Kelleher · Rating 5 out of 5]

You are there.

This is a reporter's personal account of what he experienced, "a first draft of history" as the expression goes. I give it five stars, not for its scholarship or its comprehensiveness--it is neither scholarly nor complete--but for its captivating sheer vividness and passion.

Vulliamy was one of a small cadre of Western jounalists who tried to make sense of the Bosnian catastrophe for the outside world. Others also went on to write fine books: Chuck Sudetic, Misha Glenny, and Tim Judah among them. While Vietnam evoked a kind of bored cynicism in the press, Bosnia seems to have evoked deep and passionate engagement.

Vulliamy first became renowned when he exposed the Serbs' infamous Omarska concentration camp near Banja Luka, and promulgated the memorable photo of the frail Muslim prisoner with the bony arms and protruding ribs that was one of the first incitements of western interest in the war. Although the narrative is mostly limited to Vulliamy's own experience, that experience was broad, taking him to many of the key sites at key times--Vinkovci in Eastern Croatia, where the Serb-Croation war began; Bijelijna in Northeastern Bosnia, where the Serb-Bosnian war began; Prozor in Herzegovinia, where the Croat--Muslim war began; Sarajevo trying to hang on during the seige; Tuzla in East-Central Bosnia, which remained in Bosnian Army control throughout, and where waves of refugees from the ethnic cleansing in the East retreated; and Travnik in Central Bosnia, "the crossroads of the war". Metaphors from prior wars pervade the depictions of refugees and destruction: "Beirut" and "the Ho Chi Minh Trail."

Like others steeped in the place, Vulliamy notes that Bosnia before the war was ethnically mixed ("ethnically" is a misnomer; in Bosnia it means "religiously"). Today, each region is largely "cleansed". Banja Luka was always mainly Orthodox and Sarajevo mainly Muslim, but only by slim majorities. Today, each is more "pure", if that is an acceptable word for it (statistically, Sarajevo is "mixed" only because the Srpska Republic touches the city limits). The terror and forced-resettlement that occasioned this are the central themes of the book. Vulliamy recounts with stop-frame drama the sudden turnound of the Croats from allies of the Bosnians to enemies, overnight in the town of Prozor.

The book was published in 1994, before the Srebrenica massacre, before the NATO bombing, and before the Dayton Accords. Little is lost by that timing. There are lots of appraisals of that miserable war. This book puts you there

[Tomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world has a lot to answer for. So much evil...

[Boris Cesnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

No words can.

[Greynomad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just how many lives were lost to the dithering of politicians. Just an incredible book and I am
assuming they are still killing each other.

[bigman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book intertwines an objective explanation on the Bosnian war and genocide and a haunting description of on the ground horrors, the author is a British journalist and who was in Bosnia during the war. To my knowledge he wrote this book as the war took place. The book is very bleak and there is a palpable despair in every sentence on every page. The witness stories are heartbreaking to say the least. This book sucker punches you in the gut multiple times, The witness stories particularly. This book is criminally underrated and I think it deserves to be talked about more, the Bosnian genocide is also something that should be talked about more and taught.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Notyvole. Může se u knížek na takovýhle téma psát že byly výborný? Už dlouho se mi nestalo že bych si musela dávat přestávky ve čtení protože mi bylo z obsahu fyzicky zle, a to nejsem stran knížek na podobný témata žádný ořezávátko. Tohle mě ale vzalo víc než jiný, možná proto, že se to stalo vlastně kousek odsud a ne tak dávno. Jaktože se o tom dneska skoro neví?

Hodně se mi líbil i styl pana autora (nebo možná českýho překladatele, četla jsem v překladu), kterej rozhodně nebyl neutrální, ale nesklouzával k takovýmu tomu citovýmu vydírání co nemám ráda. Naznačil a pak... střih.

[Jennie Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful account of the Bosnian war, up to approximately the end of 1993. Vulliamy provides a vivid account of the terrible human cost of the sordid struggle to 'carve up' Bosnia. It is impossible not to share his outrage, both at the scale and breadth of the atrocities carried out, and at the inexcusable failure of the international community to prevent or address them.

A very small quibble: so many typos! This book deserved much better editing.

[Bill Zawrotny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really wish I had read this book prior to my deployment to Bosnia in 1995. It was very difficult to read, but gives an excellent narrative of the savage destruction endured by the Bosnian population during the early years of the war. I hope the world never stands by again while such atrocities are being committed against a civilian population.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that documents the atrocities from all parties in this tragic war. Lots of personal stories of suffering set into a background that attempts to explain the cultural and political genesis of the Bosnian conflict.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative and interesting. Not dry.

[Stephanie Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no words! My heart aches for the people; the waste, the loss, the senselessness of the whole thing.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ed Vulliamy remains objective always, but never neutral: he knows the horror of what he's reporting. I loved this book.

[Farah · Rating 3 out of 5]

First hand narrative of the ethnic cleansing by journalists. Delved into the political intervention and the tragedy of Bosnian War.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely horrific and painfully sad. Gave me nightmares!