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Endgame: The Betrayal And Fall Of Srebrenica, Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II
In 1993, the UN Security Council officially made Srebrenica the world's first UN-protected civilian safe area and stripped the town's Muslim defenders of their tanks and artillery. Two years later, Srebrenica fell after UN commanders turned down repeated requests for NATO air strikes to halt attacking Bosnian Serbs. As many as 7,000 Muslim men perished in mass executions or ambushes along a harrowing forty-mile flight one survivor called “The Marathon of Death.”In The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II, Pulitzer Prize–winning author David Rohde follows the experiences of seven central characters—three Muslims in Srebrenica, two Dutch peacekeepers charged with defending the surrounded town, and two Serb Army soldiers attacking it—through the ten-day period that changed the course of the war in Bosnia and was arguably the darkest hour in United Nations history.Rohde exposes how the United States, France, Great Britain, the United Nations and the Bosnian government—out of incompetence or cynicism—allowed 40,000 Muslims to fall into the hands of their potential executioners. Part of an apparent Serb endgame to win the war, Srebrenica's fall ended up playing a crucial role in the Clinton administration's “endgame strategy” that halted the conflict. A new afterword by the author updates recent efforts to find the missing victims of Srebrenica and to apprehend and prosecute the executioners.The most comprehensive book to date on the subject, Endgame is a tale of cynical power politics in the post–Cold War era, a case study in genocide, and a disturbing testament to the power of propaganda and self-delusion.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
March 18, 2025
Tolkien said it best:
“So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?”
“So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?”
December 3, 2018
This is an intense account of the worst genocide to occur in Europe since the Holocaust. David Rohde gives a blow-by-blow of how the massacre in Srebernica was carried out, as well as how it became possible in the first place. He is not overly gratuitous in his descriptions of the violence. What is gratuitous in this story though is the extent to which the United Nations not only failed, but actively facilitated the massacre. This is not hyperbole. The Dutch UN forces in Srebernica worked to help hand over the people under their protection to their executioners. They disarmed the local population in exchange for protecting them, but then lay down in the face of every Serb advance. In the end they stood by and watched the executions, rapes and torture take place, in some cases in and around their own base.
The story recounted in this book is absolutely surreal. Professionally-trained Dutch soldiers acquiesced to day after day of humiliations by the Serbs they were supposedly there to confront, handing over their weapons and vehicles, cowering in fear and even accepting gifts and going out for drinks with the executioners after they'd come back from their murders. Several officials at UN headquarters in Zagreb, notably General Janvier and Akashi, played similarly abominable roles. Its not clear that the genocide would've even happened without the UN's presence, as no one would've made the mistake of counting on them for protection.
Can Europe survive without the United States? This book really makes you question it. Through their timidity, moral drift and incompetence the European leaders, military officers and soldiers in this story managed to make a rednecked thug like Ratko Mladic look like some kind of world-destroying warlord. Given how it was rolled over and humiliated by murderous buffoons like Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, its not clear how Europe could stand up on its own to far more formidable people like Putin, Viktor Orban or any of the other ghouls that the world may well produce in the coming decades.
This book was published in 1997. Its a nice postscript to note that in the end many of the big criminals did end up going to The Hague. This was again, however, due in large part to the will of the American special forces that actually pursued them. I still hope that Germany and France can create a European political and military infrastructure that is capable of standing on its own. Doing so will require some harsh internal reflection on how humiliating episodes like this became possible, which I actually don't think that the Americans, for all their faults, would have allowed to take place as it did.
The story recounted in this book is absolutely surreal. Professionally-trained Dutch soldiers acquiesced to day after day of humiliations by the Serbs they were supposedly there to confront, handing over their weapons and vehicles, cowering in fear and even accepting gifts and going out for drinks with the executioners after they'd come back from their murders. Several officials at UN headquarters in Zagreb, notably General Janvier and Akashi, played similarly abominable roles. Its not clear that the genocide would've even happened without the UN's presence, as no one would've made the mistake of counting on them for protection.
Can Europe survive without the United States? This book really makes you question it. Through their timidity, moral drift and incompetence the European leaders, military officers and soldiers in this story managed to make a rednecked thug like Ratko Mladic look like some kind of world-destroying warlord. Given how it was rolled over and humiliated by murderous buffoons like Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, its not clear how Europe could stand up on its own to far more formidable people like Putin, Viktor Orban or any of the other ghouls that the world may well produce in the coming decades.
This book was published in 1997. Its a nice postscript to note that in the end many of the big criminals did end up going to The Hague. This was again, however, due in large part to the will of the American special forces that actually pursued them. I still hope that Germany and France can create a European political and military infrastructure that is capable of standing on its own. Doing so will require some harsh internal reflection on how humiliating episodes like this became possible, which I actually don't think that the Americans, for all their faults, would have allowed to take place as it did.
February 20, 2023
While it has been a few years - ok, more like a decade and a half - since I read this book, I was reminded of it again traveling through Bosnia last year... and this is a book that should be read.
Not only because of what it says about humans.
Not only because it's an absolute tragedy and the most atrocious single genocidal act in Europe since the Holocaust.
Not only because it shines a light on the criminal ineptitude of hamstrung international peace missions.
Not only because we must know in order to not forget.
But because the region is again teetering on the precipice, arguably it never stopped.
"Endgame" is a difficult book to read, but that's exactly why it should be read by everyone.
Not only because of what it says about humans.
Not only because it's an absolute tragedy and the most atrocious single genocidal act in Europe since the Holocaust.
Not only because it shines a light on the criminal ineptitude of hamstrung international peace missions.
Not only because we must know in order to not forget.
But because the region is again teetering on the precipice, arguably it never stopped.
"Endgame" is a difficult book to read, but that's exactly why it should be read by everyone.
January 30, 2018
I appreciate that David Rohde wrote a book about Bosnia, and not a book about David Rohde in Bosnia.
December 27, 2018
This is an incredible story of an atrocity I had known little about before. I'm glad to the author for having pursued and uncovered this genocidal massacre of Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys by Serbian ultra-nationalists following the fall of the UN-designated "safe area" Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia (July 1995). The failures in the defense of Srebrenica were myriad and legion, from the limited rules of engagement with which the Dutch UN peacekeepers (more like, observers) faced when confronted with the Serb offensive to take the town, to the bureaucratic UN generals, who were more concerned with protecting the lives of UN peacekeepers/observers than the civilian population whose security had been entrusted to them. This was a further disaster that manifested itself in the pathetic lack of Close Air Support (CAS) provided to defend the enclave.
The descriptions of the systematic executions of captive Bosniak males, and of the desperation, hunger, and agony of those men who attempted to escape Srebrenica by taking to the hills, despite the constant shelling and shooting which they confronted by Serbian forces, will be difficult to forget. Not that we ever should.
The slogan of "Never Again" rings falsely through history: in Syria, several Srebrenicas have taken place in the past 7+ years, in Eastern Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta, Darayya, Madaya, Der'aa, and elsewhere. And, in both cases of Bosnia and Syria, many self-described "leftists" in the West have sided openly with Serbian ultra-nationalist executioners and the Assad Regime, backed up by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, in order to "virtue-signal" their rejection of supposed Western norms like human rights and international law, which (first of all) can't be reduced to being only Western, and more importantly, are meant to protect humanity, not the State or capital.
The descriptions of the systematic executions of captive Bosniak males, and of the desperation, hunger, and agony of those men who attempted to escape Srebrenica by taking to the hills, despite the constant shelling and shooting which they confronted by Serbian forces, will be difficult to forget. Not that we ever should.
The slogan of "Never Again" rings falsely through history: in Syria, several Srebrenicas have taken place in the past 7+ years, in Eastern Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta, Darayya, Madaya, Der'aa, and elsewhere. And, in both cases of Bosnia and Syria, many self-described "leftists" in the West have sided openly with Serbian ultra-nationalist executioners and the Assad Regime, backed up by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, in order to "virtue-signal" their rejection of supposed Western norms like human rights and international law, which (first of all) can't be reduced to being only Western, and more importantly, are meant to protect humanity, not the State or capital.
July 26, 2014
CAVEAT: While I work for the same media organization as Rohde, I only know him slightly. It took me a long time to read t his book because I often had to put it down and take a break after reading about some of the barbarous things perpetrated by Serb forces against Muslims. It was comparable in hearing family stories about the depredations visited by the Japanese on Indonesians and Filipinos (I am half Indonesian and half Filipino) 65 years ago and on reading the narratives of Holocaust survivors. Nonetheless, I finished Endgame after a few weeks on and off. I think it an important witness and say again, that what reporters like Rohde and others are doing -- to illuminate the atrocities that evil men try to hide -- as the work of Allah or God or whatever Deity one chooses to worship. Highly recommended.
May 29, 2025
An absolute feat of journalism. I can't even fathom the amount of time that went into interviewing and researching for this book. It's a book that comes along every once in a while that you know not only impacted the world when it came out, but still does to this day.
It's still an incredibly important read today as it outlines not only a systemic genocide, but also how the (at best) ineptitude and (at worst) malicious intent of the Western world helped it happen. It's also incredibly imporant because still, to this day, the whereabouts of over 7,000 people is still unknown.
It's still an incredibly important read today as it outlines not only a systemic genocide, but also how the (at best) ineptitude and (at worst) malicious intent of the Western world helped it happen. It's also incredibly imporant because still, to this day, the whereabouts of over 7,000 people is still unknown.
February 15, 2016
"Endgame" is as good and powerful as any book I've ever read about war. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Rohde dissects the Serbs' massacre of 8,100 innocent Muslim men and boys in Srebenica with a novelist's eye for detail and a journalist's analysis and context. At times, I literally had to put this book down, because I felt so overwhelmed with emotion and disgust by the Serbs' cruelty, brutality and ruthlessness. I have read few books as thorough, fair-minded, engaging and edifying. I highly recommend this to anybody interested in learning more about Europe's worst massacre since World War II and the utter impotence of the United Nations, NATO and the US, France, Britain and the Dutch in the face of naked aggression and repeated violations of international law and norms. The West's failure in Srebenica, I think, holds valuable lessons about how the US and its allies should respond to Vladimir Putin's land-grab in Ukraine: fight back and fight back hard. As we have seen in Srebenica, appeasing bullies, whether Serbs, Russians or North Koreans, only begets more aggression and increases the likelihood of a more dangerous and deadly confrontation down the line.
August 16, 2017
Kad blogis nugalėtų tik tereikia kad geri žmonės nieko nedarytų. Labai gera knyga apie Srebrenicos žudynes bei politikų neveiksnumą. Tokį trilerį jau seniai skaičiau – ir kas baisiausia, tai neišgalvota, o tikra istorija.
Pilna apžvalga: http://petras.kudaras.lt/archyvas/201...
Pilna apžvalga: http://petras.kudaras.lt/archyvas/201...
August 6, 2013
One of the most powerful books I have ever read. Very saddening to see what happens to people just because of their religion, race, ethnicity, etc.
August 28, 2014
Really liked it, is slightly off. It's a book about a massacre. A readable book about a massacre, not too graphic but very important to read, especially considering the current play in the news.
May 15, 2021
this one hurt!
August 30, 2021
En skamfull hendelse som ligger altfor nært oss både i tid og sted til å bare være en fotnote. "Never Again" er det største pisset noensinne.
November 13, 2023
This is a fantastic detailed account of a horrific massacre that happened in the 90’s in Bosnia. David did an incredible job laying everything out for someone who didn’t know much about the war there. The author deserves 5 stars because he did such a great job but it gets lengthy and tough to read for me since it’s not a novel.
I travelled to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2012 and it was the first time I had been anywhere that had had a “fresh war.” We made friends with locals who had a wound from the war and I saw bullet holes in the stone buildings. I wish I had known more before I visited but it was very eye opening and I’m glad I finally was able to learn more about what I had seen.
I travelled to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2012 and it was the first time I had been anywhere that had had a “fresh war.” We made friends with locals who had a wound from the war and I saw bullet holes in the stone buildings. I wish I had known more before I visited but it was very eye opening and I’m glad I finally was able to learn more about what I had seen.
June 9, 2012
This is an excellent book,not light reading but the true story of what happened to Bosnians, just over ten years ago, in the town of Screbrenica, Yugoslavia at the hands of the Serbs. While Dutch peacekeepers stood by, feeling unable to act, the men were separated from the women and children and executed. Rohde painstakingly researched this book and presents actions through the eyes of several of the survivors. This clearly shows the unclear morality issues that the Serbs, Bosnians, and the Dutch faced. This is close to home for those who reside in the greater St. Louis area as St. Louis is home to more Bosnians than anywhere in the world other than Bosnia and it is also home to many of the survivors of this tragedy at Screbrenica. Most of the boys in our Bosnian Boy Scout troop in St. Louis lost their Fathers at Screbrenica. This is a difficult book to read but important. We often think that these horrors only happen in undeveloped countries but the Bosnians that perished here all had automobiles, jobs, good water, electricity,education, TV, a stable government, all the things that developed nations have.
July 1, 2018
David Rohde presents a nuanced book charting the events that lead to the Srebrenica genocide in 1995, during the Balkan War. He extensively interviewed and researched the DutchBat soldiers who were expected to protect the enclave that was designated a safe zone, residents and survivors of the genocide, the Bosnian soldiers who were fighting to protect the enclave, and a Serb who was fighting against. He analysises the political landscape against which the war was happening and decisions were being made by the UN. The book is published in 1997 so there have been further developments in recoveries of the remains from mass graves, as well as trials against war criminals, but this is no way detracts from the relevance of this book. This is an excellent book that objectively shows the ineptitude and apathy that led to the genocide.
September 25, 2014
The issue of Srebrenica and the Yugoslav wars is often written with political, religious or social bias. Writings within that region fail to provide neutrality and often lead towards a corresponding side. David Rohde provides a reliable detail of all sides. His writings lean in favour of any side. Overall, deeply emotive book and I highly recommend it as a starting point for the atrocities that occurred during the Yugoslav war.
September 2, 2013
Must reading for anyone honestly interested in what happened during the final final days of the war in Bosnia. There are few heroes and multiple examples of human error that led to the horror of Srebrenica.
Want to read
May 12, 2022I was in college when this happened. That was over 25 years ago. I remember wanting to interview some of the refugees that were going to settle in orange county California. I don’t remember why I didn’t do it but something called me away and I did not complete that idea. I had done some interviews with people from displaced persons camps after World War II and so I thought I would be interested in doing this particular thing. I know it was going to be fresh and maybe that’s what made me hesitate was because I didn’t want to dig up any more painful memories. Sometimes it takes a while to talk about things.
I thought the book was well laid out. I thought it was very direct in its accusations and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I wondered why he didn’t wait until war crimes trials had been finished to write the book but sometimes those things just don’t wait and I haven’t really researched anything he has written about it cents. I thought the descriptions of the executions were graphic without being overdone and yet it gave me a sense of actually being there lying under those bodies. I wouldn’t call this a buy the fireside book but unfortunately a very necessary book because some of the same questions which some of the reviewer‘s on the site have asked are still quite relevant for today. I did notice a big difference in that now with Ukraine there is definitely a willingness to provide weapons to the Ukrainians even if it is still fraught with political peril in some countries. There are similarities in that despite emerging technologies and people who watch things like this these types of atrocities are still occurring even in 2022. This is why it is a good thing to always expose what is happening because someday those exposures may help to stop further atrocities like this. That’s always the hope anyway.
I’m sorry this book had to be written but it definitely did need to be written. I may consult it for a reference in the future and I may go back to this subject and do some more research on it. I don’t even remember how I found the book but despite its unhappy subject I am glad I read it. I would like to know what happened to some of those survivors.
I thought the book was well laid out. I thought it was very direct in its accusations and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I wondered why he didn’t wait until war crimes trials had been finished to write the book but sometimes those things just don’t wait and I haven’t really researched anything he has written about it cents. I thought the descriptions of the executions were graphic without being overdone and yet it gave me a sense of actually being there lying under those bodies. I wouldn’t call this a buy the fireside book but unfortunately a very necessary book because some of the same questions which some of the reviewer‘s on the site have asked are still quite relevant for today. I did notice a big difference in that now with Ukraine there is definitely a willingness to provide weapons to the Ukrainians even if it is still fraught with political peril in some countries. There are similarities in that despite emerging technologies and people who watch things like this these types of atrocities are still occurring even in 2022. This is why it is a good thing to always expose what is happening because someday those exposures may help to stop further atrocities like this. That’s always the hope anyway.
I’m sorry this book had to be written but it definitely did need to be written. I may consult it for a reference in the future and I may go back to this subject and do some more research on it. I don’t even remember how I found the book but despite its unhappy subject I am glad I read it. I would like to know what happened to some of those survivors.
September 6, 2025
There are no lessons to be learned from brutality; otherwise , people would learn from the history of wars and the trauma that it leaves behind for generations. There are no consequences for political incompetence: governments, international organizations, military leaders and NGOs would not continuously hide and cover up their mistakes if there were..
After the truth sayers spoke to expose the massacre of Muslims, and the destruction and their expulsion from Srebrenica, did the world listen and learn from the worst massacre and destruction of an ethic group since World War II.?
The ENDGAME documents the stomach turning horror and shame we feel as humans to have allowed Incompetent peacekeepers Cause the collapse of Srebrenica . who blindly allowed the senseless mass executions of Muslims . Power politics Among nations failed when peace keeping efforts of too many decision makers didn’t react with military protection from power hungry bullies, partly through a faulty communication infrastructure and incompetent leadership of vested local and international constituents. .
I wept while reading this book, And when I look back at Srebrenica and see Gaza. I weep still. Can there ever be peacekeepers who are committed to protect citizens from national ideology? Is history fated to always repeat itself?
After the truth sayers spoke to expose the massacre of Muslims, and the destruction and their expulsion from Srebrenica, did the world listen and learn from the worst massacre and destruction of an ethic group since World War II.?
The ENDGAME documents the stomach turning horror and shame we feel as humans to have allowed Incompetent peacekeepers Cause the collapse of Srebrenica . who blindly allowed the senseless mass executions of Muslims . Power politics Among nations failed when peace keeping efforts of too many decision makers didn’t react with military protection from power hungry bullies, partly through a faulty communication infrastructure and incompetent leadership of vested local and international constituents. .
I wept while reading this book, And when I look back at Srebrenica and see Gaza. I weep still. Can there ever be peacekeepers who are committed to protect citizens from national ideology? Is history fated to always repeat itself?
June 29, 2021
David Rhode writes an enthralling day by day account of the war between the Bosnian Muslims v the Serbs in the 90s. The tragic retelling of the fall of Srebenica is required reading for anyone interested in the Balkans.
I was always interested in the Serbian/Bosnian conflict. I just could never grasp how 8100 men died and the world let it happen. The international community failed these Muslim men but I never understood how. Not that this was at all surprising, nationalism always breeds contempt. Unfortunately, I have come to learn that the most basic reason as to the deaths was the lack of policy making and agreement between the UN, The Dutch "peacekeepers" and the West on what to do in this country that had too many underlying racial contentions. So sad to think humanity always resorts to violence. Bloodlines and futures forever lost because they weren't born as a specific ethnicity or religion.
I was always interested in the Serbian/Bosnian conflict. I just could never grasp how 8100 men died and the world let it happen. The international community failed these Muslim men but I never understood how. Not that this was at all surprising, nationalism always breeds contempt. Unfortunately, I have come to learn that the most basic reason as to the deaths was the lack of policy making and agreement between the UN, The Dutch "peacekeepers" and the West on what to do in this country that had too many underlying racial contentions. So sad to think humanity always resorts to violence. Bloodlines and futures forever lost because they weren't born as a specific ethnicity or religion.
December 13, 2019
Thought the book dragged on a bit. Probably could have been a solid 50 pages shorter, though I understand author probably wanted meticulous documentation of this atrocity. I disliked author’s bouncing around from character to character. This led to confusion as to which Bosnian Muslim he was writing about. I wish the author would have recounted his experience being arrested and held in captivity in this book. He should have been more concise up front and added personal experience at the end. Plenty of useful information in here for those interested in Srebrenoca, and I admire Rohde’s courage to get after the story.
October 18, 2022
Excellent book. An incredibly captivating read. The minute-by-minute description makes you feel like you're there, both in seeing everything falling apart followed by the inhuman brutality.
Highly recommend for anyone wanting to get a detailed understanding of the events of the Srebrenica genocide.
Highly recommend for anyone wanting to get a detailed understanding of the events of the Srebrenica genocide.
December 27, 2017
An important book if you want to learn about this tragedy. It can sometimes be difficult to follow because it jumps from character to character and both the people names and place names make can be confusing.
March 9, 2020
Interesting read.
A good read. Insightful. Not many books on the subject. Very well documented. Would have liked some more political background on the Balkans.
A good read. Insightful. Not many books on the subject. Very well documented. Would have liked some more political background on the Balkans.
March 10, 2021
A gripping and informative read on the Srebrenica genocide, full of first-hand accounts and explanations set against broader political context and history
January 22, 2022
Extremely moving! A very detailed account of what went on. A must read!
September 26, 2022
Magnifique recueil de témoignage de ce qui a pu se passer à Srebrenica.
November 6, 2022
Harrowing, intense, based on interviews with of those involved on every level and every side. A gutpunch of a book, powerful and immensely important.
January 28, 2023
This is a must read for anyone who wants to know about the fall of Srebrenica. Emotional deep and frightening.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews