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From her unique vantage point as a reporter directly covering the reality and aftermath of genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda, award-winning journalist Elizabeth Neuffer tells the compelling story of two parallel journeys toward justice in each country - that of the international war crime tribunals, and that of the people left behind. In a book packed with devastating stories, including those of victims and perpetrators, forensic experts and tribunal judges, two provide the double backbone of the book's narrative: Hasan Nuhanovic, a Bosnian muslim whose determination to discover the fate of his family lost at Srebrenica sees him mature over the years from a gangling youth to a man with the authority to testify before Congress; and Witness JJ, a Tutsi woman of staggering courage who overcomes her modesty and the dictates of her culture to testify about the rapes that are classified as war crimes. ... Read more

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This volume brings together a distinguished group of thinkersto explore the moral and religious issues that underlie the violenceand atrocities in Bosnia.From diverse academic and philosophicalperspectives, the works of Jean Bethke Elshtain, James Turner Johnson,Michael Sells, John Kelsay, and G. Scott Davis will inform not justscholars of ethics, politics and religion, but everyone concerned withthe prospects for justice in the post Cold War world. ... Read more

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Interesting look at Just War Theory but Weak on Nationalism
In Religion and Justice in the War over Bosnia, editor G. Scott Davis compiles essays by five professors of religious ethics who consider the current Bosnian conflict within the schema of the "just war" theory.This "just war" tradition, as described by noted theorists Paul Ramsey and Michael Walzer, outlines the "just" reasons for engaging in warfare, and the proper manner in which war should be conducted.The former includes proper authority, just cause, just intent, last resort, and reasonable hope of success.The latter pertains to the use of proportion and discrimination in the prosecution of warfare (16).
Davis admits that, before undertaking this project, he "had scant knowledge of the cultural and political history of Eastern Europe, much less of the Balkans" (viii).Davis assumed the role of a student in preparation for this enterprise by consulting such works as Fred Singleton's "A Short History of the Yugoslav People" and Barbara Jelavich's two-volume history on the Balkans. Two convictions on the part of Davis enters into this work--a distrust of nationalism, and an insistence that the West (particularly, the United States) should intervene militarily to end the hostilities against the Bosnian Muslims.

Michael Sells' contribution to the study, "Religion, History, and Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina," is a critical account on Western views towards the Balkans.First, Sells establishes that war tactics on the part of the Bosnian Serbs is, in fact, genocide.The "unjust" intent of the Bosnian Serbs is to destroy the cultural memory of the Bosnian Muslims (26).Second, Sells analyzes the prevailing attitude of the West towards the war in Bosnia. Sells cites an appearance by then president Bill Clinton on Larry King Live during which Clinton referred to the hostilities in Bosnia as "age-old antagonisms" which "go back five hundred years, some would say almost a thousand years" (23).
Robert Kaplan's "Balkan Ghosts" is criticized for repopularizing the idea that the Balkan peoples and cultures are "unamenable to civilized standards of behavior and locked in unchanging, perpetual tribal hatreds" (40).This belief that the Balkan peoples will always be involved in warfare is coupled with the idea that "there are no angels in the conflict" (41).According to Sells, the denial that civilized society is possible in the Balkans, and the prevailing conclusion that all sides in the Bosnian conflict are guilty causes the West to ignore the practices of cultural genocide against Muslim populations.

In "Nationalism and Self-Determination:The Bosnian Tragedy,"Jean Bethke Elshtain explains another reason for the lack of direct action by the West to stop atrocities in Bosnia.The problem is that the United Nations, for a time, did not recognize Bosnia as a sovereign nation.According to Elshtain, "the United Nations Charter [only] makes provision for response to violation of the territory of a sovereign state" (46).To Elshtain, this stand is unacceptable.He also criticizes the West for regarding international conflicts with "national security interests, first and foremost, in mind" (47).Using the "just war" theory, both principles and interests would be considered in assessing whether intervention in a given conflict is or is not warranted.As Elshtain maintains, "if our [United States] policy makers had been guided by just war principles, my hunch is that, under the Nuremberg precedent, genocidal political aggression cannot be permitted to stand" (49).Like Davis, Elshtain notes the problem of nationalism in Bosnia and recommends a "middle way" between multicultural absolutists, who insist that different identities cannot mix, and civic pluralists, who preach universal solidarity (50-3).Elshtain, however, does not explain the ways in which this "middle way" can be achieved.

James Turner Johnson, in "War for Cities and Noncombatant Immunity in the Bosnian Conflict," describes the element of "double effect" in the "just war" theory.The idea of "double effect" asserts that, although deliberate and direct attacks on noncombatants is considered unjust, noncombatants can be legitimately harmed or killed if they are the unintentional victims during an assault on a military target.Considering the war in Bosnia, Johnson uses an important example to illustrate the weakness ofthe "double effect" idea in protecting noncombatants from unjust harm.In Sarajevo, Bosnian Serbs would cut off the water supplies to the civilian Muslim populations.As the inhabitants left their homes to attain water from a limited number of public taps (most likely, near military institutions), the Bosnian Serbs would fire upon them.According to Johnson: "If the besiegers employ means of attack that are by nature indiscriminate or disproportionate in their effects, then I am less willing to grant the double effect excuse, and if these means are chosen so as to increase the burden of possible harm on the noncombatants present and may be judged so because they are likely to have their primary effect against these and not the combatant defenders, then double effect reasoning emphatically does not apply" (84). Johnson maintains that international law, which establishes civilized war tactics, does not sufficiently address the problems associated with siege warfare.

Unlike the other essays, which condemn the West for its lack of response to the Bosnian conflict, G. Scott Davis' contribution includes a criticism of the actions employed by the West.In"Bosnia, the United States, and the Just War Tradition," Davis charges the United States and the European Community with violating the "just war" theory through their arms embargo.The purpose of the embargo imposed in September 1991 was to minimize the violence and contain the war in Croatia.The embargo, however, shifted the balance in favor of the Serbs, who inherited munitions and material from the Yugoslav National Army.Davis maintains that the embargo, which favored Serbia, "should have been particularly offensive given the conduct of the Serbs, who had already displayed a willingness to attack civilian targets and to condone atrocities" (113).Davis concluded that the proper response of the West would have been to lift the embargo and supply aid directly to the Bosnian government (114).

In the final essay, John Kelsay condemns the Western media for portraying the Muslim culture as barbarian and hostile to modernizing influences.In "Bosnia and the Muslim Critique of Modernity," Kelsay compares the Bosnian Muslims' situation to that of the Jews during the Second World War.Kelsay uses the observations of Richard L. Rubenstein to explain that, by disregarding the Muslim community as being incapable of modernization, the West defines the Bosnian Muslims as "outside the universe of moral obligation" (125).Thus "the United Nations, the European Community, and NATO all function as 'silent partners' in the efforts of the Serbians to create an 'ethically pure' region for themselves in Bosnia-Herzegovina" (125).

By using the "just war" theory to analyze the conflict in Bosnia, this compilation is an important work.It is critical to have a criterion whereby "just" or "unjust" war practices can be clearly defined.Terms, such as "genocide" and "unjust," are often used so loosely that their meanings become ambiguous and less useful. Zachery T. Irwin, who reviewed the book for Library Journal (November 15, 1996, p. 75), criticized the analogy for a lack of a conclusion.This reviewer disagrees.The conclusion of this work is that, through an understanding of the "just war" theory, the West should become more directly involved in stopping the atrocities committed in Bosnia.The argument itself, however, is weak.All contributors have little regard for nationalist feelings in the Balkans and elsewhere.Nationalism is important for producing a healthy identity for a people and instilling in them a sense of dignity and self-worth which can prompt an oppressed people to fight for their place in the world.Certainly, there are negative aspects of nationalism, however, Elshtain's insistence on retooling nationalist feelings to find a "middle way" seems very naïve.The contributors consider the Bosnian conflict as would many international journalists.Such journalists often take a global stand on many issues.Such a stand, however, underestimates the power and importance of nationalist aspirations which can determine whether a conflict, no matter how morally "unjust," warrants the risk of Western lives. ... Read more

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Much-needed history
In this book, (his 1924 Ph.D. thesis), Nobel laureate Ivo Andric observes, that Europe's Turkish conquerors brought their Christian subjects "no cultural content or sense of higher historic mission, even to those South Slavs who accepted Islam." Rather, they delivered a "hegemony" that "brutalized custom, and meant a step to the rear in every respect."

From this non-fiction, Andric draws the history infused in his fictional Bridge over the Drina, which won him the Nobel prize for literature. Here, he provides considerable evidence of Islam's institutional enslavement of children under the Seljuks and Ottomans, over 500 years, in Greece and Serbia.

Unfortunately, this history seems very much alive in the Islamic wars against non-Muslim dhimmis ongoing from Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines and southern Sudan. In any case, this book provides evidence that while the vast majority of Muslims may indeed be peaceful, their tolerance is less apparent in Islamic tradition and laws, as recorded by jurists from al-Mawardi to our own time, or by the historical record.

Andric's history of classical Islam's European actions should give one pause, particularly since, as Robert Spencer explains in Onward Muslim Soldiers, classical Islam remains very much in vogue among radicals today.

This book provides a much-needed snapshot of classical Islam's historical effects.

--Alyssa A. Lappen ... Read more

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This study blends Ottoman and Slavic sources and examines in particular the Bosnian campaigns against the Austrians in 1736, along with the structure, personnel system, and financing of the Bosnian militia. Archival material, chronicles, personal letters and journals and poetry help show how Bosnians and Ottoman officials co-operated to arrive at a shared sense of social order and mutual defence. ... Read more

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A Must for Military Historian
Mr. Hickok is bringing new light on what happened at the Ottoman Austro-Hungarian border. He is doing this without getting affected by nationalist biases. And at the same time correcting most of them.
It is a good book for the ones who already knew about the region's history and military history of that time. So for the novice choose another book. ... Read more

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Diversity has been the core of Bosnia and Herzegovina's personality. Even its "dualistic" name and physical geography display a lack of homeogeneity. The medieval Bosnian state never enjoyed lasting political and ideological unity. Its rifts were feudal, regional, and religious in nature, or a combination of the three. Because of its location and by a quirk of history, three major world religious and cultural traditions (Catholicism, Islam and Orthodoxy) became cohabitants in this small Balkan country. The recent birth of its statehood, however, has been exceptionally bloody and its diversity has been shaken. At the present time, it is hard to say if this new European country is in the process of remaking or of breaking itself. "The Historical Dictionary of Bosnia and Herzegovina" was created to assist the interested researcher in sifting through the long and complicated history of this region -- from its first settlement by Paleolithic and Neolithic tribes, through the Roman, Medieval and Ottoman periods, to monarchical rule by the Austrians and Hungarians, incorporation into Yugoslavia, and through the war of aggression cum civil ethnic conflict to the implementation of the Dayton accord to the present day. ... Read more

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This book traces the development of the Bosnian territory over the last hundred years. Itbegins with Bosnia's existence as an autonomous entity within the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires at the beginning of the century, take you though its Yugoslav Kingdom/Communist state manifestations and culminates with Bosnia's emergence as a nation-state at the end of the century. ... Read more

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The Muslim President of Bosnia battled for almost two years in a 'war the West could not stop', against Serb and Croat separatism, to preserve its entity, saving its sovereignty, but losing half his territory. Western rivalries and changes of policy, endless negotiations, broken promises and cease-fires, and ethnic cleansing on a barbaric scale, with the appearance of concentration camps and atrocities, were the hallmarks of the conflict, of seige, bombardment and starvation, with semi-independent war-loards confiscating a proportion of UN and other food aid for themselves. Rival American and Russian initiatives in March 1994, brought about a cease-fire in Sarajevo, which had been constantly under the television spotlight while being bombarded for almost two years, which it was hoped would spread to other parts of Bosnia in media darkness. Ethnic forward battle lines may become new frontiers. ... Read more

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Designed for secondary school and college student research, this work is a one-stop ready reference guide to the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the war in Bosnia, and the peace settlement. Combining narrative description, analytical essays, a timeline, biographical profiles, and the text of key primary documents, Rogel, a leading U.S. specialist on Yugoslavia and the war in Bosnia, provides information and analysis to help students understand the collapse of Tito's Yugoslavia and the causes and effects of the ensuing war. Six essays analyze the crisis, including a concluding essay that discusses the area's uncertain prospects for the future. Ready reference features include: a timeline of events; lengthy biographical profiles of 20 pivotal political figures in the crisis; the text of 12 key primary documents; a glossary of selected terms; and an annotated bibliography of recommended further reading. Four maps and selected photos illuminate the text. ... Read more

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Excellent Reference
Just like the back cover says, this is an excellent reference book for high school and college students studying the Balkans.After checking out over 20 sources for a term paper on Yugoslavia, this book turned out to be the one I cited most. ... Read more

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Fabiancic's adventure spans both place and history to uncover the fragments of the story of Gavrilo Princip - Archduke Ferdinand's assassin and The Great War's unlikely catalyst. The book brings together several elements: travelogue, dialogue and scene-setting, personal reflection, overview of historical events, and story-telling. The writing is excellent, interweaving research material and personal experience, using dialogue to create character, and creating vivid scenes full of sensory detail. The book includes lively material from the road trip, the moving pathos of the author's musings about the recent Balkan wars, and the graceful inclusion of historical flashbacks. The assassination of the arch-duke is one of the most famous events in the last 100 years, yet we rarely hear the name of the assassin or those of his co-conspirators, and know nothing of the idealism motivating the group. With the twenty-first century being defined by terrorist acts that generate wider wars, the subject is very relevant. For instance, some people compare Princip to Bin Laden, while others regard him as a hero.Because of his ethnicity, the author has a unique perspective on the events (involved as a Croat, distanced as a Canadian), and he provides original translations of some documents. The author weaves in his own travels as he follows those of the conspirators, following the itinerary of the revolutionary Gavrilo Princp as he makes his way to Sarajevo. ... Read more

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Lively and neutral history-don't miss!
If you are going to make a journey, you know it's not going to be dull if your companion has a reputation for getting into fights. It could even be dangerous if you are travelling to a location still rife with racial and cultural tensions. Thus, it's with great wisdom that Tony Fabijancic's wife suggested his father go along as guide and possible referee on his journey to Bosnia. Why Bosnia?






First, Fabijancic's father emigrated from Croatia, and the region has held his son's fascination for a lifetime. But more intriguing is Tony Fabijancic's obsession with understanding Gavrilo Princip, an obsession that leads him to research the cultural, political, and geographical influences of the former Yugoslavia-then and now. The result of that trip is Bosnia:In the Footsteps of Gavrilo Princip.




I never knew Gavrilo Princip by name, only his identity as the man who started WWI with his assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. I didn't even see how the event was that big of a deal; as noted in the book, assassinations in the area weren't exactly unusual. Why was the impact so big? And why did Princip do it in the first place? It's a subject I'd wondered about but never pursued.




Similarly, in the 1990s, when the Bosnian conflict headlined the news, I had no way to differentiate between a Croatian, a Bosnian Serb, or a Muslim Slav, or if Kosovo was a person or place. I hate to admit that before this book, I probably couldn't have found B-H on a map; my knowledge being especially vague about Yugoslavia and the USSR. And while history at times can be boring, learning it from the personal perspective usually enlivens it. Thus, this book is far more powerful than its size would suggest. From the perspective of a road trip, with anecdotes and photographs that make the journey more personal, a reader learns the history of the region from Austria-Hungary's occupation through the Baltic Wars, the breakup of Yugoslavia, and the Balkan Wars in the 1990s, as well as the religious differences (Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox) and the racial divide that still fuels pride and conflict.




The author addresses part of the image that Westerners may have of the area: "Because of Bosnia's reputation as an inherently violent place, filled with `ancient ethnic hatreds', it finds itself squarely situated within the ambit of the Balkans, which have acquired derogatory qualities in the West's wider social imagination."




He meets a Croatian shepherd that still lives off the land with his flock for weeks at a time, a lifestyle that's millenniums old. They drive through cities nearly abandoned, houses still showing the scars of bombings, villages with just a few old residents remaining, and long neglected cemeteries. The ethnic divides are still steep, and various regions still feel volatile to a nervous traveler. Some subjects are simply not safe to talk about, as Fabijancic learns. Even the character of Princip is conflicted: some view him as hero, others as a scar on their reputation. As the travelers retrace his journey to Sarajevo, where he ultimately succeeds in killing Ferdinand, they are able to see places where he had lived, socialized, and plotted. In uncovering the history of the Serbian lands, they simultaneously uncover the biography of Princip, the events of the assassination, and the trial that ensued.




At one point, they visit the bridge over the river Drina, a location famous in literature by Nobel winner Ivo Andric and also in history: in 1992 "hundreds of Muslims were herded onto the bridge and along the riverbanks, murdered and dumped in the Drina, turning its green waters red. Others were forced into buildings and incinerated alive." This type of ethnic cleansing occurred on all three sides of the conflict, but the realization that this happened within my children's lifespan is a bit staggering. The violence in the conflicts seems especially heinous.




This is not a dry read...it's sobering but still amusing at times-it reads like a novel. It reminded me a bit of Andrzej Stasuik's Fado although exploring a different region. This is the way history should be read-through lively narration and not dry data and charts. I am terribly enthusiastic about this book because it feels valuable-it doesn't solve the problems there but by neutral observation it helps an outsider understand them, as well as the bigger picture of the brutality of mankind's yearning for domination.The photography should be noted:the black and white images are stark and bring out the humanity in the faces shown.



(This title received from publisher from review at no charge: however, receipt doesn't reflect contents of review).

A riveting and educational read, not to be missed
The past century has been filled with tumultuous times for the nation of Bosnia. "Bosnia: In the Footsteps of Gavrilo Princip" looks at the history of Bosnia, using the model of the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Gavrilo Princip. What drove him to start a war that claimed countless lives and how his actions are still felt to this day as Bosnia struggles to find its own national identity and place in the world. "Bosnia" is a riveting and educational read, not to be missed.
... Read more

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This concise history of Bosnia-Hercegovina is designed for the non-specialist reader who seeks to understand the historical background of the Bosnian conflict that erupted in 1992 in the wake of Serbian and Croatian agression. It covers the principal developments in Bosnian History, from the early medieval period until the end of 1993, focusing on the creation of religious communities and their evolution into ethnic groups and distinct nationalities. ... Read more

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The Human Face of Tragedy
Visiting Bosnia as a young photographer more than thirty years ago, Steve Horn was charmed by the congenial Bosnians, their beautiful landscape, and their cultural heritage. When the Balkan War broke out in 1992, he could hardly believe the reports of unbridled cruelty and destruction in that same country. More than thirty years afterward, Horn returned to the Balkans to photograph the aftermath of war and listen to the stories of the survivors. Especially touching are his interviews with some of the same people he photographed as children in a time of peace. Essays set the context for the eloquent black and white photographs.

An Artist's Connection across Borders - Recommended
The cliché of course is that the photographer is the ultimate thief of souls, but in the case of PICTURES WITHOUT BORDERS, Steven Horn turns that cliché on its head. In 1970, Horn traveled to Yugoslavia the way any college student in his right mind would travel - in a VW Bus with a darkroom set up in the back. After taking hundreds of photographs of the country's landscape, architecture and people - especially children - he returned to the States to resume his studies.

Thirty years later, with those same photographs in his pack, Horn returned to Bosnia to reconnect with the faces and places he'd photographed. With local guides and some luck, he found many of the same "children" that populated his prints, and his reunion with them - and their children! - forms the heart of this book.But this is not just a work of nostalgia; this is a book of war as well, for in the intervening years the Balkans War of the 1990s ravaged the region. "So all those children who were in the picture a long time ago," one man tells Steve, "every one of them faced ordeals in the war...and each has their story about the war time and it is not a favorable story."

Not only did Horn bring his 1970 photographs back to the children he could track down (in many cases, his photos were the only childhood images they now possess),he also delivered dozens of his prints of buildings that were destroyed in the war to the Natural History Museum in Travnik, Bosnia - many of which are now the only pre-war photographs of their respective buildings in existence.

While there are many stirring images throughout the book, the standout is the cover photograph (the Amazon reproduction here does not do it justice). It's a great example of both Horn's eye as well as the aesthetic power of photography. Is the image that of a Serb or Muslim cemetery? (A life and death question for many, and the answer could reveal Horn's political intent.) Does the photograph show headstones growing into the city, or does it document the city's neighborhoods growing into the cemetery? In other words, is the city dying, or is it finally conquering death? Smartly, Horn titled the photograph simply "Sarajevo," leaving any interpretation for us.

While one might have hoped for a more consistent and seamless integration of the text in the book with the images, and perhaps more circumstantial background for some of the 1970 photographs, PICTURES WITHOUT BORDERS testifies to the tremendous impact an artist can have on a community and its people. ... Read more

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"Islam and Bosnia" re-examines the conflict of the 1990s from the perspectives of international relations, conflict resolution, and history as well as psychology, anthropology, and cultural studies. Rejecting the primordialist, or 'ancient hatreds', interpretation as the root of the conflict, the authors detail how a complex cultural transformation led to the erosion of what had been the common inclusionist base of a multi-ethnic state and brought about a new exclusionist nationalism. By pulling together the individual elements of culture, society, and foreign policy and analysing their interaction, Islam and Bosnia demonstrates how the secular romantic nationalism of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, centred on history, language, and landscape, was overthrown in favour of one that highlighted religion, race, and territory."Islam and Bosnia" shows how the Bosnian conflict bears on the wider contexts of cultural paradigms, deadly conflicts, and the formulation of foreign policy. It argues for a new perspective in foreign policy-making, one that would embrace and incorporate better and deeper knowledge and understanding of culture, history, and ideology.The contributors include Tone Bringa (University of Bergen), Amila Buturovic (York University), John V.A. Fine (University of Michigan), Peter W. Galbraith (former U.S. ambassador to Croatia), Graham N. Green (former Canadian ambassador to Croatia), Nader Hashemi (Ph.D. candidate, University of Toronto), John M. Reid, (information commissionaire for Canada), Andras Riedlmayer (Harvard University), Michael A. Sells (Haverford College), Donald W. Smith (former Canadian ambassador to Croatia), and Vamik D. Volkan (University of Virginia). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Insightful but not easy reading
While Ms. Shatzmiller's provides a vast amount of historical information regarding the history of Islam and Bosnia, getting through this book is a challenge due to the heavy language and writing style of the author.Admittedly, she has chosen to address a complicated topic however what I had hoped to be enlightening turned out to be a chore.As a result, much to my disappointment, I have yet to make it through to the end of this book, nor have I gained the insight that I had hoped to from reading this book.

A series of solid, careful, scholarly studies
Compiled and edited by Maya Shatzmiller (Professor, Department of History, University of Western Ontario), Islam And Bosnia: Conflict Resolution And Foreign Policy In Multi-Ethnic States provides the reader with a series of solid, careful, scholarly studies on the causes of the Bosnian war. Supporting the opinion that civil war lies in much more than "ancient hatreds", and describing how complex changes in culture eroded the fragile bonds that held together a multi-ethnic state under the dominance of Tito's implacable communist regime, Islam And Bosnia reveals a transformation in the nature of nationalism, from a secular oriented society to one emphasizing religion, ethnicity and territory. With its series of compelling and meticulous presentations, Islam And Bosnia is a highly recommended, informed and informative contribution to contemporary Islamic Studies and International Studies academic reference collections and reading lists. ... Read more

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This book provides a sociological account of the events in Bosnia in the 1990s, including ethnic cleansing, mass rape, and the role of political journalists. Drawing upon a diverse group of social theorists, including Merton, Weber, and Baudrillard, "Sociology After Bosnia" constructs a social understanding of the experiences of people in Bosnia and the response of Western leaders to these experiences. Beyond looking at the social causes of these events, Doubt sheds light on why Bosnia and Kosovo have largely been ignored by sociologists. He shows why the personal and social tragedies of people in Bosnia and Kosovo and the world's tolerance of these tragedies challenge contemporary sociological knowledge. Doubt argues that sociologists must be willing not only to recognize this challenge, but also to respond to it in order to construct meaningfully adequate accounts of war and genocide in a postmodern era. Doing so, he contends, may yield an important and needed reconsideration of the existing body of sociologicial knowledge and a revision of how this knowledge is applied. ... Read more

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In 1997, Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, one of Bosnia's leading public intellectuals, was scheduled to lecture on Bosnia at Stanford University but was unexpectedly denied an entry visa by American authorities. This book, first published in Bosnia in 1998, is an expanded version of that lecture. It is an indictment of the partition of Bosnia, formalized in 1995 by the Dayton Accord. It is also a plea for Bosnia s communities to reject ethnic segregation and restore mutual trust. For the first time, English-speaking readers can hear this important voice of dissent from within Bosnia-Herzegovina.Mahmutcehajic (pronounced 'ma-moot-che-HI-itch') argues for the history and reality of a Bosnia-Herzegovina based upon a model of 'unity in diversity.' He shows that ethnic and religious cultures have coexisted in Bosnia for centuries. Partitioning of Bosnia, therefore, should have been unthinkable except that a multi-ethnic, multi-faith Bosnia stood squarely in the way of Croatian and Serbian leaders determined to enact their own nationalist programs. The decisive moment came when the international community accepted the Serb-Croat argument that ancient ethnic hatreds were endemic to Bosnia. At that point, ethnic segregation became not only acceptable but desirable. With the complicity of Western powers, Serbs and Croats proceeded to carve out ethnically cleansed states. Mahmutcehajic examines the reasons why Western liberal democracies have regarded with sympathy the struggles of Serbia and Croatia for national recognition, while viewing Bosnia's multicultural society with suspicion. As one of Bosnia's former political leaders in the early peace talks, he describes with authority how the parties were often physically aligned during formal talks, with Bosniak negotiators on one side of the table and everybody else Serb, Croat, and international representatives on the other. In the end, justice was subverted and the final solution justified on the basis of an intractable 'conflict of civilizations.' Mahmutcehajic confronts the religious dimension of the Bosnian dilemma with refreshing honesty. As a Bosniak committed to interreligious dialogue, he calls for more than simple toleration among Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians. He remembers that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share the same deity, and it is this common transcendent perspective that should open the door to the acceptance and celebration of religious diversity. Only in this way will Bosnia reclaim its unique civilization.The Denial of Bosnia has dire implications for the future of a Europe searching for a viable post Cold War order. Will Europe accept ethnic segregation as a solution to the contradictions of ethnic diversity or find a way to protect and build upon this diversity? Bosnia, though currently divided and shaken to its foundations, could become a model for European progress. The greatest danger is for Bosnia to be declared just another ethnoreligious entity, in this case a 'Muslim State' ghettoized inside of Europe. If protected and allowed to develop, however, Bosnia too could find a place in the new European order. ... Read more

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If you want to know about war in Bosnia - read this book
The Mahmutcehajic's work is a perfect literature for anyone who ever wanted to know why Bosnian war happened, why Genocide, Concentration camps and enormous human suffering and misery occurred at the end of the twentieth century and what was this conflict all about. I am sure this essay will satisfy anyone who wants to discover more about Bosnian tragedy either professionally or out of curiosity. For historians an politicians Mahmutcehajic's work represents an excellent and detailed expertise, for history, politics or international affairs Students it is the richest resource available about War in Bosnia and for just a curious reader it is the best yet informer about one of the greatest human tragedies in this century.

If you want to know about war in Bosnia - read this book
The Mahmutcehajic's work is a perfect literature for anyone who ever wanted to know why Bosnian war happened, why Genocide, Concentration camps and enormous human suffering and misery occurred at the end of the twentieth century and what was this conflict all about. I am sure this essay will satisfy anyone who wants to discover more about Bosnian tragedy either professionally or out of curiosity. For historians an politicians Mahmutcehajic's work represents an excellent and detailed expertise, for history, politics or international affairs Students it is the richest resource available about War in Bosnia and for just a curious reader it is the best yet informer about one of the greatest human tragedies in this century. ... Read more

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Bosnia Remade is an authoritative account of ethnic cleansing and its partial undoing from the onset of the 1990s Bosnian wars up through the present. Gerard Toal and Carl Dahlman combine a bird's-eye view of the entire war from onset to aftermath with a micro-level account of three towns that underwent ethnic cleansing and--later--the return of refugees.

There have been two major attempts to remake the ethnic geography of Bosnia since 1991. In the first instance, ascendant ethno-nationalist forces tried to eradicate the mixed ethnic geographies of Bosnia's towns, villages and communities. These forces devastated tens of thousands of homes and lives, but they failed to destroy Bosnia-Herzegovina as a polity. In the second attempt, which followed the war, the international community, in league with Bosnian officials, endeavored to reverse the demographic and other consequences of this ethnic cleansing. While progress has been uneven, this latter effort has transformed the ethnic demography of Bosnia and moved the nation beyond its recent segregationist past.

By showing how ethnic cleansing was challenged, Bosnia Remade offers more than just a comprehensive narrative of Europe's worst political crisis of the past two decades. It also offers lessons for addressing an enduring global problem. ... Read more

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Within three and a half years of its inception, the Bosnian Army had succeeded in fighting the Serbian army to a standstill--Serbia was forced to recognize Bosnia's independence. Yet the victory was ambiguous, leaving two thirds of the country under the control of Serb and Croat extremists, while the remainder had become a predominantly Muslim Bosniak-inhabited area. Challenging the opposing stereotypes of "Islamic fundamentalism" and "multi-ethnic Bosnia" the author seeks to establish what really happened in Bosnian internal politics during the war. He shows that Bosnia-Herzegovina's war of independence was genuinely multi-national and pluralistic at its inception, but under the impact of external aggression, internal treason and international betrayal it changed into an essentially Bosnian Muslim struggle for survival. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Strange end to a war: no defeat, no victory
Hoare's book is of exceptionalimportance precisely because it is not part of the propaganda war that is taking place outside Bosnia's borders about Bosnia and its recent past. Rather, it represents an attempt to explore, without succumbing to the two dominant stereotypes of `Islamic fundamentalism' and `multi-ethnic Bosnia', how and why a war that began as a defence of Bosnia ended as a Bosniak struggle for survival...In his introduction to Hoare's book Brendan Simms, author of the best analysis published thus far of British diplomacy regarding the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, says that he wishes he had been in a position to consult the work when writing his own. Hoare's approach to Bosnia differs from that of participants in, or witnesses of, the events that he covers; but his advantage lies in the fact that, being neither,he is not a prisoner of memories.The idea that the war should end without a victory was certainly not Bosnian, but his book explains the circumstances that led it to be accepted at the very point when the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina was poised to win the war, leading to the surprising conclusion of the war ending in neither victory nor defeat. His research is important for all those who in their different ways are involved with Bosnia, but it is only a Bosnian translation of the work that will permit a critical reading of it, by counterposing the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina's own image of itself with that reconstructed by the British historian.
Gordana Knezevic
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Product Description
The eyewitness accounts, and the photographs of wrecked buildings, once-prosperous but now homeless people, and the sad army of stray pets will bring the war in Bosnia home to many who have seen it as just another news media spectacle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Heartbreaking and Beautiful
"Cry Bosnia" is definitely a good "coffee table book"- it's oversized and has lots of photographs. At the same time, it's so much more. "Cry Bosnia" tells the sad story of the Bosnian War, which is now fading from the collective memory in the face of the Iraq War, in the words of the people who were there. Through Paul Harris' haunting photos and his interviewees, we see how the world stood by as the strong took advantage of the weak. If you're interested in the Bosnian War, contemporary history, or human drama generally, then this book is for you.

REFLECTIONS FROM A WAR
I found this book hidden in the corner of the post exchange on Eagle Base in Tuzla. From the moment I opened its pages I knew that I would never put it down. Many volumes speak about the political, social, economic andethnic divisions which caused the war in the Balkans. Cry Bosnia is not adry history book which feeds the intellect with numerous facts and figures.Paul Harris, through his photography, has allowed the people of the regionspeak to us through their hearts. It is through the pictures and commentarythat Cry Bosnia speaks to the hearts and minds of those distant witnessesof the Balkan War.

Harris doesn't spare us as he shows us thepictures of both human and physical destruction of a land of beauty. Whenwe view those pictures we see faces of grief, despair and rage. At the sametime we see hope, courage, laughter and the spirit of tenaciousness as apeople attempt to rebuild their lives in the midst of a senseless war. Whenwe see these pictures we see the ugliness of our humanity. Bosnia reflectsthe beast which is within us as the "world" allowed slaughter togo on as is asserted in the text.If anything Cry Bosnia can teach usto move beyond our negative spirits and recover the good from within us.Such a reflection from a war should move us to be more accountable to oneanother as our world gets smaller and smaller. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Printed for the Oriental translation fund, sold by J. MurrayPublication date: 1830Subjects: Russo-Turkish War, 1736-1739Bosnia and HercegovinaRusso-Turkish war, 1736-1739History / Europe / EasternHistory / Military / OtherLiterary Collections / GeneralNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
A landmark work of New Journalism is now available in softcover.

Safe Area Gorazde is Joe Sacco's 240-page opus about the war in the former Yugoslavia. Sacco spent four months in Bosnia in 1995-1996, immersing himself in the human side of life during wartime, researching stories rarely found in conventional news coverage. The book focuses on the Muslim enclave of Gorazde, which was besieged by Bosnian Serbs during the war. Sacco spent four weeks in Gorazde, entering before the Muslims trapped inside had access to the outside world, electricity or running water.

The hardcover edition of Safe Area Gorazde put Sacco on the map as one of the pre-eminent journalists of his time, and the softcover edition will present his work to a wider audience. The book has been prominently featured in The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, Time, Utne Reader, Spin, The London Times, The Washington Post, Brill's Content, several NPR programs, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Economist, The Atlantic Monthly, and other media. The book also led to Sacco being named a recipient of a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship. Safe Area Gorazde features an introduction by Christopher Hitchens, political columnist for The Nation and Vanity Fair. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Sacco's Images Are as Richly Detailed as His Text
Joe Sacco is an engaging and direct writer, and an incredibly detailed black-and-white cartoonist, but above all, he is a good journalist. Comics just happen to be the outlet for his reportage.

Sacco has published cartoons since the 1980s, but Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 marked his first graphic novel when it was released in 2000, followed quickly by the collected graphic novel publication of Palestine in 2001. Though Sacco is probably better known for his work in the award-winning Palestine (originally published as nine smaller books in 1996), Safe Area is arguably the better of the two, earned Sacco the Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel in 2001, and cemented his role as a master of the unique medium of comics journalism.

Safe Area documents Sacco's four trips in late 1995 and early 1996 to Gorazde (pronounced "go-RAJH-duh," as the author explains), a United Nations-designated safe area in eastern Bosnia. Its Muslim population suffered many losses during the Bosnian War--both in lives and an incredible amount of property destroyed--but the town was the only one in eastern Bosnia to hold out while the Bosnian Serb forces carried out an "ethnic cleansing" of the region.

Sacco documents the siege imposed upon Garozde's population by the Serb forces and its impact on the town's people in 227 pages of journalism at its finest. His recognizable black-and-white visuals include a portrayal of himself, but unlike the tendency of Art Spiegelman to become the center of attention in his tales, Sacco keeps the focus on his subjects. He seems only to portray himself for the purpose of transparency of the journalistic process, ultimately even exposing some personal flaws and unavoidable conflicts that go along with being an American embedded in another country for the purposes of a story.

In one scene, Sacco recounts reviewing gruesome home footage of a Serb shelling before having the Gorazde resident who taped it name an "outrageous" price for the video. Sacco also points out that as an American journalist he receives passage in and out of Gorazde via U.N. escort, but his subjects--such as Edin, a graduate student who takes Sacco into his home and provides much of the graphic novel's stories--did not have that luxury. Sacco also takes requests for American-made jeans and films when he leaves town, and occasionally gets overburdened by his task or certain individuals. And though he does find the need to editorialize at times, it is kept to a minimum.

The honesty lends credibility to his effort and makes the stories incredibly personable, which is Sacco's entire goal with Safe Area. The book is not a documentation of the general events from a broad prospective; the news at large already had that covered. It is instead an account of how those major events affected real people--what they felt like on the other side of the world. Though Sacco provides a well-researched outline of the events to keep everything in perspective, Safe Area primarily relies on snapshot stories to convey its messages, and offers things like Bill Clinton's statements during the war through the eyes of Muslims.

Sacco's images are as richly detailed as his text. Every person in every panel looks like a unique individual, and Sacco accurately documents everything from the clothes they wear to their posture to the way they speak. The art is slightly less caricatured than that of Palestine and better for it. Sacco's images are still just a bit larger than life and carry with them a liveliness and convincing realism few journalists have captured.

-- William Jones

Amazing book
This book is amazing. Sacco's a talented artist/journalist/storyteller/traveler with a clear voice. The book has a compelling combination of humor and horror, historical facts and personal experience. Sacco doesn't pretend to be unbiased or to remove himself from the story. His narration is honest and compelling. It's not emotionally an easy read, but I had no problem moving through this text quickly.

Just as good as his 'Palestine'
Politically sharp, an eye for the human side of modern day war zones, heart warming and breathtaking: Safe Area Gorazde is a must read. Sacco's other work 'Palestine' is also an absolute must read. Both very good journalistic accounts of real existing people in real existing desperate circumstances, and in the form of graphic novels. Giving you images of the conflicts you could only better experience if you would have been there with Sacco.
Fantastic.
If you are not a frequent comic book reader yet: start with 'Safe Area Gorazde' or 'Palestine'!

Fascinating & Horrific
An excellent account from the war in Bosnia.Well-written, well-drawn, informative & heart-breaking.Hearing 30 second blurbs on the news about things like this can be easy to ignore (or miss entirely).Reading a book like this & through it getting to know people like yourself & your friends who survived (or didn't) hellish years is harder to forget.

Most insightful book on everyday life during the Bosnian War yet
I teach Central European political geography at the University of Minnesota. I just read this book, and I have to say that it better evokes the true state of chaos and genocide that was occurring in Bosnia than almost any other book on the subject. It is basically a reporter's diary... filled with eyewitness accounts of unbelievable atrocities and hatred. The key thing that this adds, and that other accounts lack, are the images. The fact that it is a cartoon does not dumb down the atrocities but adds an element of suspense and terror that written narratives like Peter Maass's "Love Thy Neighbor" largely lack, i.e., you can see the family dodging bullets and jumping in the river. Also, unlike a lot of war journalism, Joe Sacco doesn't dwell on himself and other reporters much at all -- it is focused on the people that survived genocide. With Karadzic's arrest this past week, there is no better time to read this book and remember exactly why he will be found guilty of the most heinous crimes in Europe since Stalin was in power. ... Read more

Product Description
Bosniaks. South Slavs, Slavic Peoples, Bosniak History, Bosnia and Herzegovina, History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Genetic History of Europe, Neolithic Revolution, Iron Age, African Admixture in Europe, Early Slavs. ... Read more