The Collapse of Yugoslavia: 1991-99

Osprey Essential Histories #63

by Alastair Finlan

Bloomsbury presents The Collapse of Yugoslavia by Alastair Finlan, read by Ric Jerrom.

An accessible introduction to the brutal conflict in the former Yugoslavia, one of the greatest yet least understood tragedies of the 20th century.

In 1991, an ethnically diverse and peaceful region of Europe descended into violence, lawlessness, bitter hatred and chaos, almost overnight to the bewilderment of international observers. Communities fractured along lines of ethnic and religious affiliation, and the ensuing fighting was deeply personal, resulting in horrific brutality, rape, torture and genocide, causing the deaths of thousands of people. Drawing on the latest research for this new edition, Alastair Finlan examines the internal upheavals of the former Yugoslavia and their international implications, including the failure of the Vance-Owen plan; the first use of NATO in a combat role and in peace enforcement; and the war in Kosovo, unsanctioned by the UN but prosecuted by NATO forces to prevent the ethnic cleansing of the region.

Updated and revised, this is a concise overview of the tragic conflict in former Yugoslavia and its significant consequences.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, Politics, War, European History, Military Fiction

Audible Audio

First published November 1, 2004

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of an incredibly complex situation. Showing the strengths and weaknesses of the various UN commanders as well as the horrors of the war and the various massacres that took place. Of particular interest was the section of quotes from an 11 year old girls diary who wrote during the conflict. Standard Osprey fare, good intro, but leaves you wanting to seek out more information.

[Dragan Gaić · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not have anything positive to say about this book.

I feel the author(s) primarily used internet-based material without consulting anyone from the ex-yu territories.

The book is not objective and does not correctly reflect events that led to the ex-yu wars. It's almost impossible to describe this bloody war without giving it a proper context with an interlude to war. What happened before the war is as much if not more important than war itself.

Next, the ex-yu wars go beyond the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This book is barely touching events in Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia, which were at points as bad as the war in Bosnia (especially what happened in Croatia).

I'm Croatian, and I'm also biased; however, I'm obligated to state that too much blame is painted on Serbians. Following the logic of this book, Serbians are the master evil, Croatians are a lesser evil, while Bosniaks are all-around victims. This war was a free-for-all event; Serbians started it, but all our hands were bloody in the end.

Propaganda played a much greater role in the ex-yu wars. Book only talks of Serbians (from Serbia) being "shielded" from what was actually happening in Bosnia and Croatia. However, the same thing happened to Croatians during the Bosniak-Croatian conflict.

I can keep writing, but nothing can save this book from mediocrity.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what you would want in a report on this serious topic: Hard facts, well organized. You will learn some astounding facts including:
How Milosevic stole at least $2 to finance his election;
Why Croatia posed a greater problem than Slovenia; and,
Why the E.U. found it easier to believe the Serbs than to take action

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly the poorest written I have read in the series. The Authors have a strong pro British bias, this is reflected in the fawning descriptions of British operations in the during the war. Certainly Britain had a role in the conflict, but hardly deserving of the emphasis placed on it in this short book. A full seven pages (of a little over 90 total pages) are dedicated to to the decidedly minor character of Lt Col Bob Steward. The pages read like an over indulgent press release. Lt Col Steward recently admitted to carrying out torture while deployed in Ireland.
Another issue is the choice of pictures for the book, in a war that generated many shocking and striking images this book is a homage to British involvement. The cover photo is a British soldier and of the 37 photos inside 17 are of the British military or British politicians.

Clearly this volume could do with a serious update with some non anglophile authors.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative in its own way, but insufferably right wing.

[Kieran Schafer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provided a decent overview of the conflict, yet also felt that the author glossed over Croatian/Bosnian players while emphasizing a great deal on Serbian parties. Slovenia and Kosovo also barely warranted a mention, which left some speculation open towards their perspectives.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and simple summary.

[Jack Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent intro to the topic, but not much else. It left me wanting more detail, especially on the main characters in the conflict.

[Declan Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different from other books in the series this book concentrates on the political and human impact of the war in Yugoslavia, not least because there were so few fixed position battles throughout.

Very interesting to read about a war that I grew up with in the news, but certainly don't remember all the issues raised by the book. Also - as it was published in 2003 - the conclusions are somewhat out-of-date but the rest is a very thought provoking read, and proves the lie behind the EU creating peace in Europe, as it eventually took military leaders and NATO to resolve in spite of (and not because of) UN resolutions.

[Bruinrefugee · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the lesser entries in the series. Too argumentative and judgmental with decent details leading into the fighting but very little after that. Or maybe better put as too little coverage of the fighting and the displomacy, opting instead to castigate various players or on rare occasion praise them.

[Zac Stojcevski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic overview of the topic in descriptive but not analytical format which is to be respected; the multivariate, complex and convoluted tragedy and trauma can only be pretentiously and pompously portrayed in a single book.

[Lordoftaipo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most gruelling wars of our time, dog-eat-dog mutual destructions, broadcasted worldwide, day in and day out, were the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The book is mainly concerned with the theatres in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Most historical accounts end with the trial of the antagonist marking the end of conflict. This one doesn’t. Though frequently portrayed as the poster boy behind the Yugoslav wars, Slobodan Milošević was by no means alone. Bloodletting skirmishes succeeded one another for a prolonged period of time in which leaders of sorts had either died or faded out. On expiring early, these guys, no less culpable and important, might have dodged the bullet of justice, but not the place history books would eventually consign them.

Serving the life sentence as we speak, Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić are both Bosnian Serbs. While I have ostensibly understood the belligerent nations, I fail to capture the real meaning of their feuds. Space forbids Mr. Finlan to trace back in time and yet he asserted that the Powder Keg of Europe was a misnomer far too inapposite. If after all the Balkan Peninsula had been the scapegoat for WWI, I wonder why these peace-loving nations wouldn’t have resolved their conflicts with less chilling means.

The author was rightly critical of the so-called international communities, led by the United Nations and the former European Communities. The EC and the US were dilly-dallying early on, tragically creating a window of opportunity for their mutual exterminations to take place. Even taking into account that the two treaty bodies represented different missions, some delayed actions were beyond forgiveness as a result of a long-winded chain of command to and fro. What was even guiler was John Major’s cloying laggard in face of ethnic cleansing. It puzzled me. This non-interventionist puritanism reeks of corruption and hidden agenda, little unlike its counterpart. And what a solace it stopped forthwith with Tony Blair.

I won’t call 90 pages of half texts, half images a one-size-fit-all encyclopaedic account. I have, however, found what I needed—an opinion, a pretext to the wars, and the major conflicts.

[Will Bettison · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a book that introduces you to the topic, Its alright. It gives you a good breast of the events and the chronology in which they happened. Unfortunately, thats about as far as it goes.

There is a borderline dangerous level of hidden bias. The author talks at lengths about the atrocities committed by Bosnian Serb actors during the war, and only briefly and in passing mentions the crimes committed by Croatian and Bosniak forces. The failure to properly address the magnitude of the war crimes committed on all sides could lead someone who knew little about the conflict to the conclusion that the Bosniaks and Croatians were innocent. This is false.

If you are seriously interested in the topic, this book is a good introduction to the subject matter and includes interesting publications in its further reading section, but do your own research when it comes to the narrative regarding the atrocities.

[Alec Piergiorgi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: This review is based on the audiobook narrated by Ric Jerrom.

This is nothing more than a primer, and thus, pretty sparse in its level of detail and thoroughness. I would say that it at least covered the biggest topics and players from this period, including those within and outside of the former Yugoslavia. The focus is pretty contemporary and doesn't do much in setting up an extensive history of the region nor the fallout and changes in the region since.

The weirdest thing about this one to me was that it was biased in some respects. This edition opened with a new introduction and closed with a conclusion lambasting Donald J. Trump and making indirect comparison between him and the former Serbian president during the conflict. Whatever your opinions are, this was an out of place connection to make. The book was also overly favorable towards Bill Clinton in his role in the conflict, which I know the situation is not that clean.

[Matthew Petti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone described this as a good "who, what, where, when" description of the Yugoslav wars, which is what I was expecting. Instead, it ended up being an extended op-ed on the causes of the war that didn't actually provide a coherent timeline of events. I also found the author's view on the causes somewhat shallow: the "international community" was slow to act and the local nationalist leaders were all deranged thugs. There was little on the historical and social context of Yugoslavia before the collapse. If he wanted to write a quick summary of the war, he should have stuck to describing the events as they happened, and if he wanted to explore its causes, he should have done so more deeply.

[Ralph E Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

4★

The Collapse of Yugoslavia 1991-1999 is an incredibly interesting read and Alastair Finlan manages to distill an extremely complex geopolitical tragedy, that could span some 800 pages in academic texts, into 160 pages or so.

The real success of this book is in how Finlan navigates this part of history. Instead of honing in on the politics of the day, he instead chooses to focus on the operational failures and the humanitarian costs as a result of the conflict. This ends up being a breath of fresh air, as we know historical accounts of conflicts and wars and such can be heavily punctuated with political blame gaming.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very opinionated and since I don't know the subject I had no way of judging how objective the author was being. It's very short and concentrates too much on politics (and not even local politics!) instead of conflicts - whether you think that's a good thing depends on which directions you think causality points. I'm in the camp that politics is a passenger and not the driver of conflict (unless the state is completely captured by one person/group).

[Becky]

Went on a cycling tour of this region of the world and though I was and adult during the wars talked about in this book, I only knew the corporate news media's views on what was happening there. Now I know the history and it's grim and unpleasant. Fortunately, now, it seems pretty a pretty settled and growing region with a lot of positive things happening. I hope it stays that way. The people are good people and deserve a good, peaceful life.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quick read packs quite a bit into 90 pages (with numerous illustrations). It's the first book from this series I've read, and I understand these place a special emphasis on the military aspects of the history. That said, it is a decent general introduction to this complicated conflict, and the quality of the overview prompted me to order a few more titles from the series.

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is shockingly poorly organised. Almost impossible to read. Still have no idea why Yugoslavia broke apart, but appreciated the lists of ammunition the various sides had. It's like listening to your Uncle who lacks focus and did some reading about a thing he was interested in, ramble for a couple of hours, getting excited about different irrelevant parts of the story.

[Fiona Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent summary of the different factions involved and NATO/UN’s role. I learnt a lot. The recent rise in nationalism in the UK seems scarier after reading this. I've been feeling lately, the further we get from WW2/first hand stories of the atrocities of war, the more likely we are to flirt with violence. A sobering thought.
On a lighter note, 20th book of 2025 complete 🤓

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief readable description of the Balkan wars of 1990s. Our daughter and husband are doing missionary work in Sarajevo, and we've been to the tunnel war museum. Knowing this story helps make sense of the residual animosity between Serbs and Bosnians. The climate that facilitated the wars also contains warnings for our own hyper-divided country.

[Mary Kirwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this at a tourist bookstore in Dubrovnik Croatia. An era that I lived through 30 years ago, although I was too busy with work and young children to understand all the complexities. Very tragic history, always war and genocide instead of basic humanity prevailing. When will we ever learn?

[Norbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is surely very,very difficoult to summerize in just 90 pages all that happened in former Yugoslavia

Still I found this book too much english-oriented

[Leftbanker · Rating 3 out of 5]

All this short book did was to remind me that I need to find a bigger book to understand the collapse of Yugoslavia.

[Umar Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read and basic primer on the collapse of Yugoslavia. Nothing comprehensive or in-depth, but will give the reader a basic understanding.

[Sarah Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book that draws parallels to the toxic triumvirate of demogoguery, nationalism and criminality that continue to plague western nations.

[Hughmungus · Rating 4 out of 5]

succint and engaging, perhaps at the expense of political and ethical philosophical nuance

[Oren Rosen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent primer

[Django · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the most entertaining read... but a fine academic attempt at explaining a difficult to grasp subject matter.