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"There is a method to presenting the reality of war in [New York] Times style," writes Chuck Sudetic, "a restrictive method but a perfectly valid one just the same. It focuses mainly on institutions and political leaders and their duties and decisions, while leaving the common folk to exemplify trends, to serve as types: a fallen soldier, a screaming mother, a dead baby.... The method is described by various terms: detachment, disinterestedness, dispassion, distancing, and others with negative prefixes engineered to obliterate any relationship between observer and observed."
Although Sudetic was able to maintain his detachment for the numerous stories he filed from the frontlines of the Bosnian war for the Times, it could not ultimately last. Blood and Vengeance examines the events leading up to the July 1995 genocidal massacre that took place in and around the town of Srebenica from the perspective of the Celik family (to whom the author is related by marriage). Sudetic ably blends the intimate chaos and terror of the Celiks' lives with broader historical and contemporary accounts that provide a fuller context for what happened. The people here are not types, but vividly portrayed individuals in whose lives the reader gradually becomes absorbed. This book ranks with Peter Maass's Love Thy Neighbor as one of the closest--and most chilling--looks at the tumultuous events that shattered post-cold war Eastern Europe. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
A riveting account of the events that led to the slaughter of Muslims at Srebenica--the Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee of the Bosnian conflict. In July 1995 approximately 7,000 Muslim men, women, and children died at Serbian hands in and around the old Bosnian mining town of Srebenica. It was the largest mass execution in Europe since the Nazi era; a stunning failure for the United Nations and the Western powers; and the grim watershed that led, finally, to massive NATO air strikes and the current fragile peace. How and why this shocking act of genocide was allowed to take place is still imperfectly understood. Blood and Vengeance puts a human face on the grim statistics and tangled politics of this event. Through the odyssey of one Muslim family, the Celiks of the remote mountain town of Kupusovici, journalist Chuck Sudetic tells the epic and tragic story of a people and a nation. His narrative reaches as far back as the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, where the Turks conquered the Serbs, and unfolds with sweeping and inexorable power toward the Celiks' rendezvous with history in the so-called "safe area" of Srebenica. Not since The Killing Fields has as powerful a nonfiction tale of spinelessness, savagery, and heroic survival been told. Here is a book as sweeping and powerful as a panoramic, historical painting, yet with the heartbreaking intimacy of a family snapshot. Even readers who may once have felt that the Bosnian War was beyond comprehension will find themselves in its masterful grip.
Customer Reviews:
Biased.......2007-06-16
Good writing and a good story. However, this is blatantly anti-Serb. Chuck seems to want to portray the Serbs as bloodthirsty animals and the Muslims as weak innocents. I was rooting for the Serbs by the end of the book because they had so much going against them yet they still pushed on with their goals.
Skillful and vivid portrayals.......2007-02-26
A very personalized account of the many forces that were in motion. Masterful storytelling, making the transitions for the major national participants to one peasant family's struggles is technically very difficult, the fact that the author was able to do so shows his skill as a writer.
No agreement .......2006-08-11
The book is confusing because the wars were confusing. The names present difficulties in the manner of a Russian novel. There is a chart of the main characters. It is extensive. By 1993 the author was in his fifth year in Bosnia reporting on the conflict for THE NEW YORK TIMES. Traveling through Bosnia's mountains as a student had been an adventure. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were uprooted in Bosnia by Serb forces. In 1995 the author learned through television reports of Serbian army attacks on Srebrenica. He decided to seek a month's leave to return to Bosnia to see family members, the Celiks.
Huso Celik had raised his family in eastern Bosnia. Latin had been the language of the Drina valley at the time of the Roman Empire. Later the Roman roads fell into disrepair and the Slavic language replaced the Latin. Ottoman Turks invaded in the fourteenth century. The Serbs threw off Ottoman domination in 1804. By 1875 the Ottoman Empire was bankrupt. Hasan Celik, born 1908, never learned to read. Huso Celik was born in 1941. During World War II there were two resistance groups in Yugoslavia, one headed by Tito. In the fall of 1947 Serb teachers taught the peasants on Mt. Zvijezda, the ancestral home of the Celiks. Half the people killed in Yugoslavia in World War II had been killed by each other. This was passed over in the Titoist revisionist history of the war. Social prosperity was introduced. A restored minaret was opened in 1959. In Tito's army national service duty took place outside of a soldier's home area. Huso went to central Serbia and served with Croats, Muslims, Slovenians, ethnic Albanians. Subsistence farmers of Mt. Zvijezda became wage earners. Serbs went to Belgrade, Muslims to Sarajevo. Huso worked for a construction company. In his spare time he played his clarinet. In 1974 Yugoslavia recognized Slavic Muslims as a constitutional nation. By the late 1980's the young men had left the mountain to find jobs. Having televisions, the people watched the Cold War ending. That Yugoslavia was coming apart had been in evidence for years. Workers pilfered, Serbs were hot-tempered, Slovenians demanded free elections. Economic breakdown, (there was massive embezzlement), became clear to everyone.
Milosevic rose in the Communist bureaucracy and took control. The Croats, Albanians, Slovenes, Muslims saw the emerging Serb hegemony. Nationalist euphoria swept over Serbia. The author and his wife Ljiljuana moved to Yugoslavia to report for THE NEW YORK TIMES. Belgrade was dusty. Ljiljana's sister Gordana Celik and her husband Hamed Celik, (Huso's son), lived nearby. Slovenia and Croatia elected non-Communist governments. Milosevic sought to expand Serbia. There were Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia. Tudjman in Croatia antagonized the Serb minority. Nationalism spread to Bosnia. It was forty percent Muslim. Karadzic headed the Serbian party in Bosnia. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in 1991. In 1991 Milosevic overran Vukovar.
A month before the Bosnian War began in 1992 the author and Hamed saw Huso. A month later Huso had a second heart attack and there was talk of war everywhere. After the Vance-Owen Plan was conceived, the Commander of the UN in Bosnia was General Philippe Morillon. He was no match for General Ratko Mladic, Commander of the Bosnia-Serb Army.
Celik family members are pictured in July 1995 at a tent city at the Tuzla Airport following the fall of Srebrenica. Hiba Celik is shown near the ruins of her house in 1997. By 1993 Srebrenica had become a diplomatic nightmare to officials working on the Bosnian problem. Srebrenica was swelled with refugees in addition to inhabitants and everyone depended upon humanitarian aid. It was both a Muslim enclave and a UN safe area when Mladic sought to close down entry points and choke-off supplies. NATO bombs fell, Serb forces shelled safe areas. There was hostage-taking. After the fall of Srebrenica Muslim men were called out and transported out of the area. Some were killed, and others were held, it was said, for the purposes of a prisoner exchange. Action from Croatia caused some abatement of Serbian aggressive action. Some of the Celik family members were able to move to Canada and begin a new life.
The author has engaged in a tremendous undertaking to trace the fortunes of war through the experiences of family members. He certainly makes the reader feel the pain of the conflict.
biased book about a personal story.......2005-08-19
If we were to take off away the virulent bias of this book and just leave the details of the families struggle we might have a wonderful book. The wiritng is superb, the characters are deep and portrayed well, the history however is deeply flawed. The central theme of this book is that Milosevic conspired to steal land and in doing so launched a war that destroyed the Balkans. We are told the Tudjman, Croatias Catholic president was his 'ally'. THis is however not proven by the burden of history. Tudjmans army rampaged through Bosnia and slaughtered and ethnically cleansed serbs as well as muslims.
We are told here that the idea that the conflict was base don ehtnicity was a scam, which is interesting considering it was the west, like this author, who created the myth of ethnicity and 'ethnic cleansing' in the Balkans. However it is true the conflict is not based solely on land, but rather the diverse nature of the region, with Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims and in this war it was as common for the catholics to be brutal to the orthodox christians as for eithe rto brutalize the muslims.
This book presents a one sided story, a story where Serbs are portrayed not as people but animals and in this books attempt to dehumanize them we see the same ethnic hatred that the book claims doesnt exist. If it was about land then why must this book only tell one side and pretend that half the party to this conflict were wilde beasts and not humans, thinking and breathing like others.
As a tale and as a novella this ia masterful account. it is not history and the judgements on the history of the region either lack understanding or are based on myth.
Seth J. Frantzman
A powerful and disturbing account of the war in Bosnia!.......2005-08-18
Widely acknowledged as one of the best books on the war in Bosnia, Sudetic's book offers a unique insight into the horrors of the Bosnian war. What is it then that separates Sudetic's book from the other books on the war in Bosnia? First, it is extraordinarily well written and highly interesting from the very beginning to the end. It captured my attention from the very moment I started reading it. Even though this book contains almost 400 pages it never becomes boring.
The first section of the book contains a brief yet momentous introduction of the history of Bosnia. It helps explain the root causes of the war in Bosnia, an aspect that will prove invaluable to novice readers on the subject matter. Sudetic then allows the reader to follow one Bosnian family (the Celik family) throughout the entire Bosnian war. As a reader, one inadvertently becomes part of the Celik family; one empathizes with them and shares their deepest emotions and concerns. When the war in Bosnia began, the Celik family fled from their village of Kusupovici to Srebrenica. Srebrenica was by then already under siege and about 40,000 people from the neighbouring villages sought shelter in this little eastern town. Srebrenica was constantly shelled by Bosnian Serb army and only a few U.N. convoys were allowed to enter Srebrenica in order to deliver food and medical supplies to its approximately 40,000 refugees. For three long years Srebrenica's people were isolated from the rest of the world, they had little food, no clean water, electricity and virtually no medical supplies. Diseases and infections were commonplace. People were dying from hunger daily.
Sudetic brilliantly describes the experiences of the Celik's family throughout the war. Will all members of the Celik family manage to survive the war and how will this gruesome war affect their future? What will happen to Paja, Huso, Hiba and Sanela? As a reader, one gets to know their deepest fears, concerns and desires. It is virtually impossible to remain indifferent to their plights when reading the book. Sudetic's book thus stands out from the other literature on the war in Bosnia because it is personal. It is not simply another book about Bosnian people in general, not that there is anything wrong with that. However if you follow one particular family for an extensive period of time you become one with them. You experience their suffering as well as their joy.
As is well known, Srebrenica fell on July 12, 1995 after three years of Serb occupation. What followed in the ensuing days constituted one of the most severe human rights abuses in Europe since World War II. In only a matter of days, Bosnian Serb forces summarily executed approximately 8000 Muslims, one of whom was my grandfather. I remember that day perfectly well and it was one of the worst days of my life. In my opinion, Sudetic provides one of the most detailed accounts of the Srebrenica massacre. Days leading to the massacre are also described in detail. While 8000 Muslims were being slaughtered before the eyes of the entire international community, the U.N. did nothing to stop the bloodshed despite the fact that Srebrenica had been designated a "safe area". In point of fact, the U.N. was completely indifferent to the plight of these people. Sudetic explains this well and also provides numerous documents that corroborate this fact. The U.N. was in fact authorized to order air strikes against Bosnian Serb army but deliberately chose not to do that because they did not want to "exacerbate" the conflict. Instead, they gave Serbs the green light to kill 8000 Muslims and to expel all women and children. The Muslims who were trying to escape from Srebrenica to Tuzla were frequently ambushed by Bosnian Serb army; many of them never made it to Tuzla.
Sudetic further provides a comprehensive account of the atrocities that took place in Srebrenica after the town was overrun by Bosnian Serb army. Muslim men were taken to different locations to be shot. Those who survived have been able to testify about these heinous atrocities. Hurem Suljic had been taken to a meadow along with other Muslim men. Bosnian Serb army then opened fire and one man fell on Suljic. Suljic remained there motionless until the executioners left the site. Another man had also survived the massacre and together the two men managed to escape. Hurem Suljic later testified that the Muslim prisoners were tortured; some had their throats slashed while others were hit on their heads by an axe or a hammer.
Sudetic's book thus gives us a comprehensive and well researched account of the Bosnian war. I have one problem with this book though and that is a flawed and sometimes biased analysis of Bosnian Muslims. When describing Bosnian Muslims, Sudetic frequently relies on the life of the Muslims who lived in the countryside. Sudetic sometimes wrongly assumes that this way of life is characteristic of the entire Islamic community throughout Bosnia. For example, the Muslims who lived in the countryside frequently dressed in "dimije" (traditional clothing for Muslim women of the countryside) and they sometimes covered their heads. One gets the impression that Bosnian Muslims are a primitive people. However, for the overwhelming majority of the urban Muslims this way of life was obsolete and atavistic. Most Muslim women who lived in urban societies dressed and behaved as any contemporary woman of the West. Furthermore, according to one of the foremost experts on the history of Bosnia Noel Malcolm, Bosnian Muslims were among the most secularized Muslims in the world. Therefore, one must conclude that Sudetic's description of Bosnian Muslims is misleading and inadequate.
Aside from this minor shortcoming, this is irrefutably the best book about the war in Bosnia. It is an extraordinarily well written account of the Srebrenica massacre. There are many brilliant books about the war in Bosnia but Sudetic's book stands out from the rest for the following reason: it involves the reader in the story in a way you never thought possible. It makes you angry, happy, sad, agitated and devoid of hope at the same time.
A masterpiece!
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The Sea-Craft of Prehistory
Paul Johnstone
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Military Science
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ASIN: 0415026350 |
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The Sea-Craft of Prehistory
Paul Johnstone
Manufacturer: Routledge & Kegan Paul, London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0710005008 |
Book Description
Democratization has swept the globe over the past generation, and analysts and policy makers have been struggling to keep up. Bookshelves have been filled with case studies and assessments of this kaleidoscope of experiences, and a related scholarly community has developed seeking to systematize all this material in accordance with well-defined schemas and causal models. But experience keeps wrong-footing the country analysts, so in this fresh interpretation the author goes back to foundational issues. He argues that democratization is best understood as a complex, long-term, dynamic, and open-ended process extending over generations. Standard models of causal explanation need to be supplemented by more interpretative approaches. Basic questions of citizen security, the nature of public accountability and the role of money as a source of political power need reconsideration. The delicate balance between monetary authority and democratic consent is also examined in the light of the financial crises that have afflicted so many new democracies. This book proposes a range of new perspectives on the complex linkages between democratization and state formation, on the logic of paired comparisons and comparisons between large regions of the world and on the relationship between democratic ideals and 'really existing' democratic outcomes. It aims to equip those caught up in democratization and democracy promotion with a more realistic understanding of the tensions and turbulence involved.
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Democratization in the Middle East: Experiences, Struggles, Challenges (The Changing Nature of Democracy)
Manufacturer: United Nations University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Middle East
| History
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Democracy
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General
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History & Theory
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Relations
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ASIN: 9280810855 |
Book Description
This book seeks to explain why international donors may succeed in putting war-torn countries on the path of democratic transition and negative peace, but fail to consolidate the gains they make.
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The Politics of Democratization: Generalizing East Asian Experiences (Transitions : Asia and Asian America)
Manufacturer: Westview Pr (Short Disc)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Democracy
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ASIN: 081331805X |
Customer Reviews:
Buzzards Bay .......2007-09-28
I read Daniel's book while vacationing at Wood's Hole , Mass. I found it to be well written and thooroughly enjoyable.
Thank you Daniel.
Falls maddeningly short of brilliant.......2005-09-26
Daniel Lee's Buzzards Bay could have been one of the best pieces of literary nonfiction of the new century. Instead, it misses the mark.
Let's start with the positives. The research is terrific and deep. Lee has found a number of interesting characters to help tell his story. And he's got true skill as a writer; he knows of what he writes, he's capable of wry observation and beautifully turned phrases. Lee is young, and there's exciting potential here; at times, you get the feeling that you may be reading John McPhee's heir to the crown of literary nonfiction.
Okay, here's where the book falls short. Although presenting one's own views is a prerogative of writers, doing so requires care - particularly when presenting one's own side of a controversial issue. At times, Buzzards Bay has the feel of a manifesto rather than an exposition. Since I already noted him, McPhee generally presents a controversial opinion through his interviewees, scrupulously making his own views opaque on the matter. You still get the point, but you don't feel like it's being forcefed to you.
Second, there's a real mechanical problem with the book. Paragraph breaks are double spaced. It severely interrupts the flow of the book. Minor quibble, you say? Trust me, it grows very annoying.
The biggest problem, however, is that the book really needed a skilled book editor who could rein Lee in, cut bits that appear to be there only for style, force a little more clarity and a little less bias. A different title wouldn't have hurt the book, either - the title itself limits the book to regional interest, and in the right hands there'd have been more than enough to make this book one of national - even international - value.
Reading Buzzards Bay is like holding a handful of 1/2 carat gems. Which is nice until you realize that you could have been holding the Hope Diamond. The raw material allowed either option.
Here's hoping that Lee's next book finds its way into the hands of a truly gifted book editor. If he displays the research capability and raw talent that showed in Buzzards Bay, it'll be one to savor indeed.
Mr. Lee Brings a Coastal Community to Life.......2004-08-15
I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Lee's book. He has seamlessly melded the figures and facts of the flora, fauna, aquatic creatures, people and history of the Buzzards Bay region with stories, essays and reflections that reveal Dan's intimate knowledge of and obvious love and respect for the land and it's people. The characters and landscapes are painted in such a way that the vignettes of people and places often read like a great peice of fiction. Dan's ability to introduce the reader to and bring the sights, sounds, smells, feelings and images of Buzzards Bay to life is astonishing. Anyone who has interest in any coastal community will enjoy Dan's insights and the artistry of his writing.
A True Discovery Book!.......2004-07-20
Buzzards Bay, A Journey of Discovery by Daniel Sheldon Lee
July 2004
A thoroughly researched account of what the author learned, knows, and experienced about the environment and history of the Buzzards Bay area.
This book is of great interest to anyone in or near the area and to anyone who wants to learn more about environmental issues surrounding not just Buzzard's Bay but the ocean, and its waterfronts especially bays or inlets. The book includes information and intellectual discussion of the Bay's history, birds, plants, aquaculture and many related and similar subjects. It covers all of the Buzzards Bay area and coastline from the Cape side to New Bedford and beyond on the West.
A great read whether you are interested in this area or anything like it.
The book is not just academic discussions but is balanced with stories including some remarkable research visits. Many enjoyable first hand experiences about the author's
boyhood including his ancestors are delightfully and dramatically described. It is full of engaging recollections of people he interviewed and met in his life.
The environmental concerns are thoroughly researched and described with balanced informative views and little if any extreme positions.
The book and its stories go a long way towards helping to keep Buzzards Bay
alive and well.
A Journey Worth Taking.......2004-07-13
Through a skillful weaving of personal experiences, stories and facts, Daniel Lee reveals the delicate eco-system that is Buzzard's Bay with a richness and depth that is rarely found in a nonfiction book. Mr. Lee is a masterful story teller and I found myself quickly falling into step with him as he explored the past, examined the present and contemplated the future of his beloved Buzzard's Bay. By the end of the book, I found that I was no longer on Mr. Lee's journey, but on my own journey of discovery.
Being a non-fiction work, it is considerably more than a collection of vignettes and anecdotes; it is also an accurate and detailed depiction of the current state of the land, the water and the animals and fish who inhabit the area. The book does not preach -- so I won't either -- but just simply lays out the facts. The reader is left to draw his/her own conclusions of what the future might hold for the Bay and any land, for that matter, that the reader holds dear.
I read the book beginning from Chapter 1 through to the end, but it lends itself to "skipping around" and reading chapters in the reader's order of interest. This is a good "summer" read. Enjoy!
Books:
- Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero
- Brigham Young: American Moses
- Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone
- Da Nang Diary: A Forward Air Controller's Gunsight View of Combat in Vietnam
- Don't Play in the Sun: One Woman's Journey Through the Color Complex
- Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International
- Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain
- Edith Stein: A Biography/the Untold Story of the Philosopher and Mystic Who Lost Her Life in the Death Camps of Auschwitz
- Emerson: The Mind on Fire (Centennial Books)
- Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling
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