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Trusted Mole
Fuelled by outrage at his arrest in December 1997 by MoD police, Milos Stankovic, a major in the Parachute Regiment of the British Army and the son of a Royalist Serb, decided to write his extraordinary story: a dramatic tale of life on the edge in war-ravaged Bosnia. His life was constantly at risk; nevertheless, he ran a 'Schindler's List' operation, smuggling families (Serb, Croat or Muslim) out of besieged Sarajevo. His arrest came as a thunderbolt. What lay behind it will be revealed in the book and will ignite an international controversy.
476 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 8, 2014
Best book about Bosnian war - no doubt about it.
The story is so entertaining, very well written and captivating. It's actually my first military tale ever read and loved it. I was not interested in reading historical facts about the yugoslavian war (already read a few books about it). This was more on a human level and have to say gives you more insight on the war than any other history or politics book out there.
Believe him or not, I don't care. If everything in the book it's true I hope he has found peace.
Recommended - you won't regret it.
The story is so entertaining, very well written and captivating. It's actually my first military tale ever read and loved it. I was not interested in reading historical facts about the yugoslavian war (already read a few books about it). This was more on a human level and have to say gives you more insight on the war than any other history or politics book out there.
Believe him or not, I don't care. If everything in the book it's true I hope he has found peace.
Recommended - you won't regret it.
May 23, 2018
Trusted Mole is a very good read. It’s a war biography of the four years or so the author, Milos Stankovic, spent interpreting for the United Nations General for UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Force in the Balkans during their war in the early nineties). He served for at least three generals over two tours of duty, and made a massive impact on what happening around him, only to be accused of being a spy by the Military Police two years later.
This book really brings home the futility of war, especially this one. It also shows how the media can mess things up by believing lies (one great example of that was one side faked that an ambulance was hit by a UN air strike, they photographed an ambulance with some impact damage by a crater, but crucially its tyres were intact, which are the weakest points and are always shredded if this happens, the media printed the story to make the UN look bad when it was clearly a set up photograph to anyone in the know).
Stankovic himself comes across as a very driven soldier, but one that never loses sight of the fact that it’s the civilians that really get hurt in these conflicts, and is involved in several rescue operations of civilians in war zones, some sanctioned by his commander, some not. At first, when the list of all of the armies at play in the conflict plus the various peace keeping forces, you just think it’s going to be too much, especially with all the acronyms, but actually you don’t need to remember every detail of who is who to get the book and to thoroughly enjoy and appreciate it.
This is part of a chain read, where I let the theme of one book influence my next choice. I read Martin Bell’s book about his time as an MP, and there was a chapter about Stankovic being accused of being a spy (Bell was having none of it) but I wanted to know more so I chose to read this.
Anyone who wants to understand the chaos of modern war and how the media and simply being seen to do the right thing can influence decisions - a good example was when the Foreign Secretary was told that Serbs were killing Muslims with pitchforks which was not being reported by the media, and he said that he didn’t want to know that and carried on like he had not been told.
Shocking but inspiring.
This book really brings home the futility of war, especially this one. It also shows how the media can mess things up by believing lies (one great example of that was one side faked that an ambulance was hit by a UN air strike, they photographed an ambulance with some impact damage by a crater, but crucially its tyres were intact, which are the weakest points and are always shredded if this happens, the media printed the story to make the UN look bad when it was clearly a set up photograph to anyone in the know).
Stankovic himself comes across as a very driven soldier, but one that never loses sight of the fact that it’s the civilians that really get hurt in these conflicts, and is involved in several rescue operations of civilians in war zones, some sanctioned by his commander, some not. At first, when the list of all of the armies at play in the conflict plus the various peace keeping forces, you just think it’s going to be too much, especially with all the acronyms, but actually you don’t need to remember every detail of who is who to get the book and to thoroughly enjoy and appreciate it.
This is part of a chain read, where I let the theme of one book influence my next choice. I read Martin Bell’s book about his time as an MP, and there was a chapter about Stankovic being accused of being a spy (Bell was having none of it) but I wanted to know more so I chose to read this.
Anyone who wants to understand the chaos of modern war and how the media and simply being seen to do the right thing can influence decisions - a good example was when the Foreign Secretary was told that Serbs were killing Muslims with pitchforks which was not being reported by the media, and he said that he didn’t want to know that and carried on like he had not been told.
Shocking but inspiring.
May 31, 2025
I read this book years ago, but I still have a vivid memory of it.
It is a well-written book. It follows the first-person perspective of the author, who happened to be at the centre of key events and meetings, thanks to his native language being Serb-Croatian and his role in the British Army.
Given his role, the author provides a lot of information about not just the unfolding of the events in the war, but also the diplomatic process that took place in the background. Thus, the book provides a very valuable first-person account of unfolding discussions between the Bosnian factions, the British and European armed forces first, the US ones successively. Despite the complexity of the events, these are described with a vivid and engaging style.
I still remember key episodes from the book, for example Mladic's hat trick (that chapter was particularly revealing of the attitudes and mindsets of the parties involved.)
I strongly recommend this book if you are interested in understanding this tragic war, as well as gaining some insight into the shortcomings and flawed approaches of the international coalition that got involved. Eventually the international coalition was able to promote an end of the hostilities and a political solution, but the book will reveal many missed opportunities along the way, all the more tragic because of the cruelty of the civil war.
In doing so, the books provides a lot of material to reflect more generally on war, diplomacy, and politics during periods of crisis. This is another strength of the book, one that makes it still relevant and worthwhile, 30 years after the end of the Bosnian civil war.
It is a well-written book. It follows the first-person perspective of the author, who happened to be at the centre of key events and meetings, thanks to his native language being Serb-Croatian and his role in the British Army.
Given his role, the author provides a lot of information about not just the unfolding of the events in the war, but also the diplomatic process that took place in the background. Thus, the book provides a very valuable first-person account of unfolding discussions between the Bosnian factions, the British and European armed forces first, the US ones successively. Despite the complexity of the events, these are described with a vivid and engaging style.
I still remember key episodes from the book, for example Mladic's hat trick (that chapter was particularly revealing of the attitudes and mindsets of the parties involved.)
I strongly recommend this book if you are interested in understanding this tragic war, as well as gaining some insight into the shortcomings and flawed approaches of the international coalition that got involved. Eventually the international coalition was able to promote an end of the hostilities and a political solution, but the book will reveal many missed opportunities along the way, all the more tragic because of the cruelty of the civil war.
In doing so, the books provides a lot of material to reflect more generally on war, diplomacy, and politics during periods of crisis. This is another strength of the book, one that makes it still relevant and worthwhile, 30 years after the end of the Bosnian civil war.
December 21, 2020
I wanted to better understand what had gone on in the Balkans during their civil war. This book certainly helps with that as the author was at the centre of what was happening. It didn't really give much of an insight into what the population of Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia went through as its written from the perspective of a soldier but I do now understand what happened a lot better. It's not the most riveting read - a lot of politicking and to-ing and fro-ing between the adversaries yet I kept at it until the end and I'm glad I did.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews