Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia

ANNOTATION

In a wide-ranging, scholarly, and highly readable account which begins with a battle lost more than six centuries ago -- Judah examines the tenuous ethnic balance fashioned by Tito and its unraveling after his death. Presenting the first in-depth account of life behind Serbian lines, Judah also provides a scrupulous explanation of how the people of a modern European state could become among the most reviled of the century.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Journalist Tim Judah witnessed firsthand many of the most horrifying episodes of the war in the former Yugoslavia. Judah offers here a history of the Serbs from medieval times to the present, combining a gripping personal description of the war with a skillful analysis of the historical and cultural context out of which it emerged. For this new paperback edition Judah adds observations on the rise of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the war in Kosovo, and NATO's 78-day bombing campaign of Yugoslavia.

SYNOPSIS

Journalist Timothy Judah witnessed firsthand many of the most horrifying episodes of the war in former Yugoslavia while on assignment from 1990-1995. Judah offers here a history of the Serbs from medieval times to the present, combining a gripping personal description of the war with a skillful analysis of the historical and cultural context out of which it emerged. For this paperback edition Judah adds observations on the emergence of a more moderate Bosnian Serb leadership, and on the worrying signs of a possible new war, this time in Kosovo.

FROM THE CRITICS

David Rieff - Toronto Globe and Mail

The best attempt to date to explain the calamitous situation of the Serbs today.

Tom Gallagher - The Herald

A thoughtful, humane, and acute portrait...which draws together history, modern politics, and war to explain how they came to be where they are.

Publishers Weekly - Cahners\\Publishers_Weekly

After a brief historical overview, Judah, formerly Balkan correspondent for the London Times, turns his focus to the past 100 years, and specifically, to the decades since WWII. During the 17th century, the Serbs (aided by Austria) waged almost continuous warfare against the Turks, eventually pushing the Turkish forces southward and recapturing Belgrade. But in the 20th century, Serbia (protected by Russia following the Russo-Turkish War) had a far dimmer view of Austrian interference in the region , particularly after Austria's annexation of the former Turkish provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina -- the step that eventually led to Gavrilo Princip's assassination of Austria's Archduke Ferdinand and WWI. The crisscrossing armies left Serbia, says Judah, as a mosaic of mini-states with much in common: they spoke the same language, looked alike and shared many customs. However there was one big line dividing them -- religion. With Roman Catholics in the West, Eastern Orthodox Christians in the East and Muslims in the center, there was constant tension between the centrists and dispersionists. Even though the Serbs, more than any other group, were spread across Yugoslavia, Judah believes the breakup following Tito's death was inevitable. Judah's analysis of Serbia's history and the large cast of characters who shaped the country is complex, even tortuous at time, which can make for a tiring read.

Kirkus Reviews

Stressing the Serbs' misuse and mythologizing of history, Judah offers an insightful, informed, and trenchant consideration of their history and their collective outlook. The Serbs is a stylish and highly readable account by an experienced journalist who has written for the London Times and the Economist. Its strength as a primer for a general readership lies in Judah's ability—unprecedented among recent journalistic accounts of the current Balkan wars—to make the behavior of individual Serbs and their leaders comprehensible by placing them in the context of Serbian and Balkan history. His presentation is nuanced, focused, and rich with motifs that he follows from the Middle Ages to the present: massive migrations, banditry and widespread violence, militias, ethnic cleansing, and enduring myths of religious and national identity (most importantly, those surrounding the Battle of Kosovo), among others. Significantly, Judah understands the deep and important nature of ties between Serbia and the Serbs outside the country proper, and explains the similarities and differences between the contemporary situation and the past. Especially effective are his citations from texts by eyewitnesses to events in Serbian history (the Balkan wars, rebellions against the Ottomans, WW II) that sound as if they were written yesterday. Judah's study will, of course, offend Serbs mightily. About the anti-Muslim sentiments in Njego's The Mountain Wreath (Serbia's most revered literary classic) he sensibly offers this view: 'Literature that elsewhere would have long been banned from schools is still, subconsciously or not, shaping the worldview of Serbian children.'He also asserts that, when faced with the Bosnian question, 'many national and sane Serbs simply cease to function as such. They prefer their own long-held convictions to facts which would force them to rethink everything they hold dear.' Judah's excellent book stands out in a cluttered field, offering the key to Serbia's behavior over the past decade. In Serbia, Judah observes, 'It is what people believe rather than what is true that matters.'