Bosnia and Herzegovina Books

Fascinating book. It is an amazing story and very well written. I recommend it highly.

Very well written narrative, exploring the struggles understaffed, overworked, and in a lot of cases under-educated doctors who risk there lives to treat there patients during a time of war, often in EXTREME circumstances. It is a very striking story in that some doctors join the fight, some stay neutral, others just get lost in the horrible world that there previously beautiful home has turned into. It really make you think what you would have done in there position and question ones own moral fiber. It also makes one question governments and there priorities. In some places the book digresses into too much history which was hard in some places to get through, but it was necessary for the overall picture for this true story. I good read for anyone who is interested in medicine, ethics, history or a great dramatic narrative.

This is an important, gripping book about doctors in wartime. And it is an impressive, beautifully written first book by Sheri Fink. War Hospital is a powerful, haunting narrative presented in fast-paced, present time, first person narrative that unfolds like a Greek tragedy. This is the story of a group of very young, inexperienced doctors amidst the siege and eventual fall of Srebnenica that ended with genocide in Europe as the world stood by. The very fact that our protagonists - humanitarians and idealists-are trapped in the midst of the eventual ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs poses the book's central questions. Is the traditional role of humanitarian medicine -- neutral, unarmed, detached - sufficient in the face of looming massacre? And are the similarly evolved views of sovereignty and non-intervention in the international community outdated? If so, how and where does one choose sides, decide to intervene, offer medical care, or seek armed protection?

But the strength of War Hospital ultimately lies in Fink's brilliant structural choice to save the analysis, the conclusions, the politics and policy dilemmas for an epilogue thus allowing the reader to become engrossed with the stories of Drs. Ilijaz Pilav, Eric Dachy, Fatima Dautbasic and a handful of others who serve as the only doctors for the 70,000 or so Bosnian Muslims surrounded in enclaves in eastern Bosnia. From the opening scene where Dr. Ejub Alic, a 32-year old pediatric resident with no surgical training, performs an amputation with a razor cleaned in hydrogen peroxide, you will find yourself caught up in a swift, compelling novelistic reconstruction of events worthy of a future film or television series. Like a special episode of ER, but with our cast operating in a very real dilapidated hospital without adequate equipment or supplies, War Hospital makes you care about Bosnians, makes you feel, see, and smell the fear, despair, humor, bravery, betrayal, and confusion that permeate war.

When Dr. Alic finally gets a surgeon to help him out, the new arrival turns out to be the even younger, 28-year old general practitioner, Dr. Ilijaz Pilav, who has no surgical training either. He must brush aside questions on his past and training if he hopes to avoid creating despair or panic in Srebnenica. And so it goes. As our cast of young doctors is fleshed out, we watch their surgeries, their witness to massacres and gas attacks, their love affairs and infidelities, their arguments, and above all, their moral and ethical dilemmas as they try to live up to their calling to "do no harm" and to remain neutral as it becomes clear that active involvement, interposition with imperiled citizens and soldiers, and even occasionally taking up arms may be essential to survival and carrying out their medical missions. In this sense, War Hospital, in the best sense, resembles a high-toned TV survivor series where the outcome actually matters. As you watch some of our doctors join in fighting with Muslim forces, escape to rejoin families, get caught in ambushes, or leave overwhelmed and disillusioned, you will find yourself, if honest, frequently identifying with and then rejecting a number of moral stances and options. There are no easy answers here.

This combination, then, of vivid narrative with a setting and structure that raises the most important ethical questions of our time for doctors and civilians alike makes War Hospital indispensable reading not only for medical students, physicians, nurses and other health professionals, but also for ethicists, historians, psychologists, journalists, foreign policy analysts and more. I can see it used in many, many university courses and, with decent publicity, selling well and giving rise to that movie.

So. Go get War Hospital and read it now. If we had had it in 1992, genocide might have been averted. But its prose and powerful human insights and ethical engagement are as fresh and relevant today as the daily headlines from Iraq.

Whether you are interested in contemporary history, war, medicine, morality and hope, you should read War Hospital. This nonfiction book about the siege of single town is an inspiring chronicle of true heroism by physicians and nurses in the face of war and its assorted horrors including internecine carnage, genocide and malign indifference. However, I first looked at this site not to see whether others enjoyed reading the book but because I wanted to see whether War Hospital had affected anyone else as much as it had me. I see that it has, and so I feel it's important to acknowledge the achievement of this book because I want everyone to have the experience I had.

What was that?

Well, as a social worker I was always quite skeptical of people who complained of `compassion fatigue' or bemoaned their inability to care deeply about the unspeakable assorted cruelties and human rights abuse that scar the globe. I looked at such complaints as little more than excuses for choosing not to care. Yet I couldn't ignore the fact that I was becoming inured to the news of genocide in the Balkans, especially because it was being rapidly supplanted by genocide in other areas such as Rwanda. Although genocide is equally evil throughout the world and suffering itself has no color, I resented the fact that Africans were getting less press and global outrage. and because journalists were also tiring of the Balkans they began to desert it for the next hotspot du jour. In the age of information overload these were all competing for our attention and the surfeit of shocking details were producing a sort of ennui. I would never have admitted to compassion fatigue, but it was becoming harder to access my outrage and easier to fall into a melancholy desire to not know more.

War Hospital proved just the medicine for this sense of paralysis.

First, the book is no preachy lecture: It is entertaining and a gripping story, very well told, that quote effectively puts a human face and universalizes the experience of genocide. And this face is a heroic face, an inspiration. This taut story is as powerful and intoxicating as any mystery novel. It is the story of a group of heroes, but heroes not in the diluted newspaper sense of a fireman saving a child but heroes in the classic sense of people who survive seemingly impossible personal tests as they mature from naïve, idealistic youths to flawed but ultimately successful saviors.

A small corps of very inexperienced young physicians including Drs. Alic, Dachy, and Dautbasic find themselves trapped in the besieged city of Srebnenica, where they must care for an unstemmed flood of Bosnian Muslims. Worse, their patients are brought in suffering from gruesome traumatic war injuries-- shredded arms and legs, and devastating head injuries for which the pediatricians and internists are ill prepared to cope: There are no surgeons. Even anesthetics and disinfectants are in short supply. When the eagerly awaited surgeon finally cheats death through a hazardous odyssey to join them, he is revealed as just another young general practitioner, Dr. Ilijaz Pilav, without surgical training. This ill-equipped band faces the challenge of providing medical and surgical care, hope and inspiration to the remaining residents of the Eastern Bosnia area, including Srebnenica, a former resort town now physically ravaged by war, haunted by snipers and tottering on the brink of despair as it is seemingly abandoned by the world. And outside, the world remains mute as genocide overtakes the country and the city: When the former resort town falls, 8,000 people are massacred .

All this is just the beginning. As Dr. Fink takes us on the roller-coaster descent of Srebnenica's fortunes, she fully fleshes out the individuals, telling their stories and illuminating their characters, warts and all: We know and care for them all by the end of the book. One man stumbled onto medicine because the engineering program he initially wished to attend was in a dull area that would not give him, a village boy, the urban experience he craved. Another must battle his own professional crisis of confidence-- is he really skilled enough to help all these people?-- as he seeks to allay the skepticism of others.

Because we know and care about them, Fink's subtle gradual introduction of ethical and moral issues as the doctors and nurses confront them is very powerful. She avoids the pitfalls of introducing thorny medical ethics issues too early and in too much depth. This means that when characters with whom we empathize ask themselves how to triage the young vs. the armed, when they ask whether they will save more lives by arming themselves against aggressor or how they can morally justify treating an enemy soldier who will turn to genocide or massacre again these concerns become immediate moral crises, not abstractions. When some doctors decide that medical measures are not enough and they decamp to take up arms to rejoin former comrades or simply to abandon their work in the clinic as hopelessly inadequate, this becomes more than a political or ethical argument.

An unexpected virtue of the book is its luminous language. It is written in a clear forthright voice that eschews semantic tricks but unerringly chooses each perfectly apt word in fresh combinations that are at once lyrical and evocative of a disturbing atmosphere: For example, a ravaged leg is `filleted' by a young surgeon in preparation for amputation. A hazard-fraught nocturnal trek to freedom by the survivors is rendered in language that contrasts brute violence with wondrous depictions of the wondrous nightscape.

In the hands of a capable writer this gripping story would have made a rousing book: In the hands of this writer who achieves rich characterization, keen ethical insight, and lyrical prose, it is an inspiration, and the cure for compassion fatigue.

I don't think I really understood what the war in Bosnia was all about before reading Dr. Sheri Fink's fabulous new book. She has a marvelous narrative gift. This book reads like a compelling screenplay, yet is marvelously researched and documented. As Chris Hedges wrote in his glowing review in the December 22, 2003 New York Times, Dr. Fink dramatically tells the story of the war by focusing on a small group of brave young doctors trapped in the beseiged city of Srebrenica with about 50,000 civilians. Without access to supplies, equipment and even electricity, we struggle along with them to deal with the frustrations, ethical dilemmas, rivalries and romances of their lives, while the larger picture of the war, the shocking failure of the UN and the West to intervene, plays out. The targeting of medical aid workers in Iraq (Dr. Fink worked there recently, I have read) takes on new meaning after reading her book and seeing how aid is often another (albeit deplorable) weapon of war. This book deserves wide notice.

I knew Mike Curtis ( not his real name ) back in the mid 90's when we were both in South America. I had heard that he had written a book and I found a copy in a bookstore in New Zealand. Wonderful book and alot of adventures. He is a first class guy and alot of fun to be around and that certainly comes across in the book.

A very compelling account and exciting book that I was unable to put it down. It's in the same league as Andy McNab's books. Clearly shows the rigorous SAS Selection and training process. Particularly realistic were his accounts of the grueling experiences in the Falklands and the scud destroying missions in Iraq. Reading this book makes you realize the tough conditions that these elite troops survive in. Thanks Mike, for doing a tough job well and for writing an excellent book about it all!

Mike Curtis' life has been very exciting. He tells about his military life in the British Army along with personal backround. It even revealed secrets of the SAS. Including the mission in Iraq during the Gulf War, which was for destroying Scud missiles.

I couldn't put this book down! It also made me want to learn more about the Gulf (I bought Cameron Spence's book about the Gulf War called "Sabre Squadron"). I recommend this book for readers interested in the British Army or SAS or if you are just a military buff.

After picking up the book and reading the initial pages I was unable to put it down. CQB made me laugh, made me sad and at times it even made me feel uncomfortable. Due to the gripping style, it is one of the few books that I have been sorry to finish, I just wanted it to keep going. The demise of his family life was inevitable however, I would have preferred it if the author had allowed greater expression on the subject (as this is a great bane of service life)and to attibute more narrative.

Overall, this is a compelling account of a soldiers life in two of the most elite fighting forces.

Curtis is in the same league as the McNab's, Spence's and Crossland's of this world! Great action in the Falklands. Awsome accounts of his selection (almost twice as good!!!!).Well written; full of anecdotes, humour and sarcasm...even in the tough moments. Makes you really wonder why "Bravo Two Zero" opted to tab instead of ride! We want more from Curtis.

Bringa, a lecturer of social anthropology at Bergen University of Norway, conducted extensive fieldwork over a period of six years in a mixed Croat-Muslim village in Central Bosnia. Through careful ethnography she has observed the ways in which such concepts as "ethnos", "nation", and "religion" were understood by, and effected the Bosnians with whom she studied. She demonstrates the complexities of interethnic relations on a micro-level. This study helps question overarching theories of nationalism, which exaggerate the difference between different nations. This study is detailed, well-researched and well-written. Despite its detail, it can be highly recommended for anybody working on or interested in Bosnia, former Yugoslavia and interethnic relations.

Bringa provides here a very readable and accessible discussion of identity boundaries in a mixed Muslim/Catholic village during the period directly before the Bosnian War. Her chapter on the history and historiography of Bosnian identity is, I think, the best piece available on the subject. Her treatment of local culture and local boundaries is warmly written and scholarly... in the best tradition of anthropological literature.
I have used this course in an undergraduate seminar I taught to very good effect. The students enjoyed the book and seemed to get a lot out of it.

This book is not a primer on the Bosnian War, nor does it attempt to make a global explanation for why that war occurred. It is however a tremendous resource on Bosnian Muslim culture and a very important contribution to the literature on identity and cultural boundaries. For those interested in such issues, I can give this work a very strong recommendation.

Filled with observation of the Muslim and (to a lesser extent) Croat culture of a typical mixed Muslim-Croat village in central Bosnia. The author, a Norwegian anthropologist, had done fieldwork in Bosnia-Hercegovina during the five years preceding the 1992-1995 wars. She wrote the book during those wars and after the village that she had studied had been destroyed. Well worth reading. (I discovered Bringa as I was writing Untangling Bosnia and Hercegovina, a book about post-war Bosnia and Hercegovina. I found her book to be an absolutely unique and valuable resource.)

Over the past three years I've become close to a Bosnian Muslim extended family living in Central Texas. This past summer I was invited to spent almost 3 weeks in the Sanski Most area. About two years ago I read this book, and it has been invaluable in helping me understand customs practiced in Bosnia, and to some extent practiced in the U.S. when practical. I gave the book to one of the youth who is having a problem adjusting to U.S. life. She found some solace in having a snapshot of a life she never fully lived as she had to leave when she was 7 years old. The book is well written, engaging, and more importantly, reflects the life of these rural Muslim Bosnians very accurately.

Someone at a youth hostel in Ireland gave me this book back last summer when they heard that I was into traveling in the areas that Bill wrote about. I read it on a lark because at that point I had ran out of everything else to read and was down to my guidebooks-always a last resort! I was very engrossed once I began it, and didn't put it down until I finished it. Not exactly a travelogue, or a war diary, or even a memoir in the traiditional sense, yet it manages to combine elements of all three effectively. Don't let this little gem slip away. Once you read it, the characters will become so real to you and their situations so familiar that you'll feel as if you went through the Sarajevan seige yourself.

Fools Rush In is sentimental without being sappy and bold but not arrogant. The book is a great combination of an easy read with a profound message which is this- help yourself by helping others. This universal truth is presented without being preachy or pious. Carter tells you what happened to him but not what you should do.
In the end, this reader was left with the dual emotions of disgust for the things people will do to other people for no good reason and hope for the people who do things for others for no good reason. Carter did something exceedingly rare in these modern times- he took a stand and did something about a situation that was unacceptable to him.
Fools Rush In has a good pace and interesting characters and places. Buy the book and expect to be entertained and moved. Carter has the makings of a fine American author.

I admit I was partially drawn to this book because of it's connection with U2, and I am a huge U2 fan. The storyline hooked me though, I heard about it through different websites and I decided I had to read it. I am so thankful that I did. This book was amazing, there is no other way to describe it. This is one of the best books I have ever read in my life and I have read many books. No other book resonated with me so deeply (expect Hemingway, Plath and a few others). I can not pinpoint what I felt connected to most, the people or the beauty in darkness. It was probably the latter, I read this book and it made me want to live more so than I had before. Ever since I was eleven or twelve, when I first heard U2, I felt I had found a purpose, a goal in life to do something worthy. Many say that it's a dream, unattainable and a waste of time. This book made me believe in the dreams I've had and those I will have. I can not say it enough, this book was AMAZING. Bill Carter has a gift, the gift of relaying emotion on the one-dimensional page of a book. There is so much wisdom in Fools Rush In, questions were asked that I've thought about and the context of the novel and concept of the novel helped answer these questions. There are some books that will stay with you for the rest of your life, The Alchemist was one of them for me and this book was another. Talking Heads said "once in a lifetime", that line just seems so appropriate here.

If this book were fiction, I think I would have found myself wanting the author to calm down, to stop forcing it . . . It is Hollywood, a murderous war zone, child abuse, rock stars, politics, and a love story so pure and tragic it rings of Shakespeare. It spans the globe and the spectrum of human emotion and behavior. It is an insane and very long dream. And it is all true.

It's nearly impossible to comprehend how this has all happened within one person's (young) life. It serves the reader a grand lesson of suffering, endurance, and relentless motivation.

The writing is intelligent, clear, calm. Which is very helpful, given the nature of this story. The book is from the author's point of view but the characters and stories are unoppressed. They are given enough freedom to divulge themselves to the reader through the dialogues and actions relayed by the writer. There is almost a faint journalistic quality to this tale in that we are being told a story and given room to take it in and interpret it in our own way. And despite the difficult subject matter, the author does not drown us in his emotion. It is excellent writing.

This novel is a journey, physical and psycological. It is fantastic in its scope. The reader is invited along for a very personal ride. It is the story of a young man coping with what he's been dealt. Truly courageously, without the help of denial or delusions. I have encountered very few books that are so deeply enriching, that linger. I feel fortunate to have read it.

I love this book. Great concept - it's not about some foreign Magnum photographers coming in to Sarajevo for a few days and publishing a book but the exact opposite! It's Sarajevo photographers portraing their country going through horrible change.
This is really a great and unique book. Double thumbs up for the author and photographers. I think they did a wonderful job!

I recently came across this book and a testament to its power is that I am not personally or particularly involved or interested in the Sarajevo conflict but found myself deeply impacted by these photos and accompanying text. I found this to be a wonderfully original idea--to have a compilation of photos from native photographers as opposed to the standard international reporters. It gave a unique perspective.

The killing fields of Bosnia, like so many wars, attracted the world's most renowned journalists. But of all of the war correspondents who covered the war in Bosnia, none have depicted the tragedy, suffering and heroism of war as honestly as Leslie Fratkin - and that's because Fratkin had the foresight to realize that no outsider could tell the story of Sarajevo as well as Sarajevans. Fratkin, an accomplished photographer in her own right, arrived in Bosnia to cover the war and simply set down her camera. She spent the next five years tracking down Bosnian photographers, who now live all over the world, looking at their pictures and listening to their stories. Sarajevo Self-Portrait is the culmination of her efforts. It tells the story of nine Bosnian photographers as they chronicled the destruction of their own country. Through a series of extensive interviews, which accompany their bodies of work, we hear how they struggled to hold their lenses still as their friends and families were struck down by snipers' bullets, how they schemed to smuggle film into the city through and underground tunnel, and how at times they used their won urine instead of developing chemicals to make their prints. At times tear-jerking, and at other times gut-wrenchingly comical, Sarajevo Self-Portrait is one of the best, and certainly the most sensitive book to come out of the war. Anyone who wants to understand the human side of that war should buy this book.

At a quick lookthrough Sarajevo Selfportrait looks like any other warstory because you tend to fixate on the photos of graves and blood - but after reading the photographers introductions and seeing all the other photos of everyday life in a city under siege this book stays with you for a long time. Without being sentimental or sensationalizing it takes you on a heartwrenching journey down bombed out streets and sniper warnings. After listening to international news and seeing pressphotos from Bosnia for a long time this books gives you a chance to get a realistic and sometimes even humorous look at how to not only survive but live with terror everyday.

As a mixed-ethnicity Bosnian who lived through this war, I must say the editors of this book were extremely well informed.
They present a set of writing from both local and foreign contributors painting a vivid picture of the true events in Bosnia and the surrounding area, as well as international reactions and the complete peace process.
The book was completed in December 1993, and came out on the market in March 1994, so it does not include the events from 1994 and later, which are also critical to understanding the war and its outcome, but I still strongly recommend it, because it is one of the best books on Bosnia of 1990-1993.

As a mixed-ethnicity Bosnian who lived through this war, I must say the editors of this book were extremely well informed.
They present a set of writings from both local and foreign contributors painting a vivid picture of the true events in Bosnia and the surrounding area, as well as international reactions and the complete peace process.
The book was completed in December 1993, and came out on the market in March 1994, so it does not include the events from 1994 and later, which are also critical to understanding the war and its outcome, but I still strongly recommend it, because it is one of the best books on Bosnia of 1990-1993.

An important collection of essays, interviews and literary texts, providing a richly varied introduction to Bosnia's multi-national and multi-cultural society, while chronicling and analysing its internationally sanctioned destruction. An ideal starting point.

A brilliant and essential collection of high-quality essays ranging from personal accounts to attempts at academic (but never dry) analysis of the components of the evil that preyed on Yugoslavia and destroyed Bosnia. A bitter criticism of the West's failure to play an equitable role informs all the essays. A remarkable achievement for the editors.

This book offers a valuable insight into the attitudes of military personnel who were stationed in Bosnia to implement the Dayton Accord. I have read many books on Bosnia which have fuelled my indignation at how the international community stood by and let the Serbs mount what is tantamount to a genocidal war against Bosnian Muslims. This book gives an idea of how military people felt about the Bosnian issue. Their attitudes range from the idealistic and noble to short-sighted and complacent ( in fact some will fill you with rage at their indifference). It is rare that one encounters a book dealing with a major historical issue which allows the ordinary person, albeit a soldier, to articulate their views so openly. The photographs are excellent and Mr Wolfe Murray's introduction is very insightful. It would, however, have been even more interesting to have a similar book which gives voice to those UN troops who were there at the height of the conflict.

The book was given to me by the author himself with dedication and as soon as I read it it became my absolute favourite. IFOR on IFOR has the largest accumulation of reviews, interviews and facts as well as interesting thoughts not only by the author himself but by the interviewed soldiers as well. As the author is in Bosnia from 1993, he knows the situation so if you need a close-up look on our rugged country check this book out.

Bosnia has pretty much faded into the background of American concern. When the American Division of the NATO Implementation Force (IFOR) rolled in on December 1995, the spotlight was on Bosnia and Americans became aware of the military role that their forces would play in the Balkans. Out of the tragedy and confusion of war came a book entitled "Cry Bosnia" by Paul Harris which chronicled the war in Bosnia itself through words and pictures.

Inspired by the success of Cry Bosnia, Ruppert Murray decided to write a similar book which would focus on the peacekeepers themselves rather than the political elements of Bosnia. His idea was merely to write minimal text with pictures but as he began to interview the soldiers and have them share their opinions, backgrounds and experiences the book began to take a life of its own. IFOR on IFOR is the soldiers' stories of their perceptions of why and how they came to Bosnia and what they feel their presence will accomplish.

The book is divided into three sectors representing the United States of America Division, the British Division and the French Division. He interviews the men and women of the armed forces who candidly share their views with him. Listen to these young warriors as they share their apathy, hope, and naivite in sharing their views of their deployment. The voices are diverse within each division and you can see the differences of opinions that run from nation to nation. The insights you get are extraordinary.

On a personal note, I was deployed to Bosnia and stayed there for a year. Everything that you have read, heard and seen in these interviews are what I experienced with this group of international soldiers. I highly recommend this book to you in getting the story of the soldier. Six copies returned home with me and many more were purchased for friends and relatives. This is an excellent chronicle in pictures and words.

Very comprehensive guide book with a succint and fair hihstorical presentation. The author maintaind neutrality while carefully presented Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian views of the wars started in 1992 that ravaged the country. However, it is inexcusable to still have (in the second edition published in 2007!) "Yugoslavia consiting of Serbia and Montenegro" (p.37). Furthermore, stating that "for all practical purposes, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian languages are one and the same" (p.47) is either ignorant or preposterous and should be taken out of this, otherwise, well researched and presented book. Several outstanding details testify to the author's understanding of the local customs: on p. 89 the description of the workings in the post office is hillarious. The culture of coffee and the special way to drink coffee in Bosnia is described on page 81.
Interestingly enough, the author had arbitrarily divided the country in six parts and dedicated one chapter to each, covering most of the interesting places, places to stay, and places to eat. I did expect a bit more about the town Pocitelj (p.176) which the Index erroneously locatesd on p. 177. Same for the town Radimlja, p. 179, shown in the Index on p.180. The map in the front calls Vetrjenica Caves, but in the text on p. 181 it is correctly spelled Vjetrenica!
Overall, an indispensable guide book for anyone contemplating to travel to these lands.

It is unfortunate that so few guides to BiH exist, but thankfully the Bradt guide is excellent enough to stand on its own. I lived in BiH for two years, and every expat I know had a copy of this book to help organize travel in the region. The historical overview and explanations of important customs are wonderful additions that help give travelers an inside look into Bosnian culture. Given that BiH is still recovering from the war in the 1990s, it can be extremely hard to plan a trip there without some inside knowledge; this guidebook provides that inside advantage to travelers who don't live in BiH or speak the language. An excellent addition to any travel library, this Bradt guide is a must-have for anyone planning to travel to BiH!

An exceptional book, from an exceptional writer. Not that many people understand all the intricacies of Bosnain culture like Ivan Lovrenovic does. Simply, one of the best books you can read about often misunderstood Bosnia.

A very special book.

One of the stereotypes about Bosnia and the recent conflicts was the common complaint that the history and culture of the region were impossibly complex, incomprehensible. The stereotype furnished a convenient excuse for those who wished to acquiesce in the organized aggression and crimes and the country and its people.

This short book is the clearest, most accessible account of Bosnian culture, history, and identity available in English. It should be the first book read in any discussion of Bosnia. Each phase of history--from the medieval period to the tragic wars and genocide of 1992-1995--is depicted with concision, humanity, and depth. The writing is lucid and the stunning black-and-white photo-illustrations are integrated with care and sensitivity into the narrative. Recommended not only for those interested in Bosnia-Herzegovina only, but for those interested in European history, East-West relations, and the dynamic of religion, culture, and identity; i.e. to both specialists in the Balkans and to the wide readership of those interested in history and culture anywhere.

The reader will emerge with a sense not of incomprehensibility, but of the richness, vitality, and uniqueness of an extraordinary place and people.

"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.

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 and ethnic divisions which caused the war in the Balkans. Cry Bosnia is not a dry history book which feeds the intellect with numerous facts and figures. Paul Harris, through his photography, has allowed the people of the region speak to us through their hearts. It is through the pictures and commentary that Cry Bosnia speaks to the hearts and minds of those distant witnesses of the Balkan War.

Harris doesn't spare us as he shows us the pictures of both human and physical destruction of a land of beauty. When we view those pictures we see faces of grief, despair and rage. At the same time we see hope, courage, laughter and the spirit of tenaciousness as a people attempt to rebuild their lives in the midst of a senseless war. When we see these pictures we see the ugliness of our humanity. Bosnia reflects the beast which is within us as the "world" allowed slaughter to go on as is asserted in the text. If anything Cry Bosnia can teach us to 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 one another as our world gets smaller and smaller.