Yugoslavia: A Concise History

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Violence and instability in Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia are threatening European security, and a new, arguably more dangerous, phase of Balkan history is opening up. Yugoslavia: A Concise History traces the origins of the present crisis, charting the making and destruction of Yugoslavia (twice) in the context of struggles between great powers for control of the Balkans. Made ungovernable by nationalist rivalries, the first Yugoslavia lapsed into paralysis and dictatorship. Axis occupation in 1941 unleashed a murderous civil war, in which the Communist Party emerged victorious, but with a bitter legacy of hatred to overcome. For many years, Tito's Yugoslavia appeared to the world as a peaceful, multi-national federation, known for package holidays, not ethnic cleansing.

Concise and clearly written, in a style accessible to the general reader, this book explains why nationalist conflicts finally ended Yugoslavia's turbulent and tragic history, amid barbarism unknown in Europe for half a century.

SYNOPSIS

Benson (politics and sociology, University College Northampton, UK) presents a history of the former Yugoslavia that begins in the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century and ends in the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague in July of 2001. Political forces are given primacy over social and economic developments as she explores successive efforts to impose differing political orders on the "land of the southern Slavs." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

FROM THE CRITICS

John Allcock