Blood and Vengeance: One Family's Story of the War in Bosnia

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Summary: The Best Book on Bosnia Yet Written
Review: After reading tremendous books like David Rohde's "End Game," Holbrooke's "To End a War," Kaplan's "Balkan Ghosts," Rebecca West's "Black Lamb, Grey Falcon," Michael Sells' "A Bridge Betrayed," and a host of others, this one stands out as the very best yet written on Bosnia. Sudetic successfully weaves the macro policy issues with an in-the-trenches view of one family's experience in Srebrenica. The end product is a devastating indictment of the international community for allowing atrocities like this to occur again, after similar incidents occuring in WWII Germany, Post Vietnam Cambodia, Guatemala and Rwanda. After seeing the aftermath of Srebrenica's downfall in person and knowing many of the people involved, I can say that Sudetic has unquestionably written the definitive account of this tragic chapter in Bosnia's history.

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Summary: A unique book to say the least
Review: An original work on the Bosnian conflict, covering it from both a journalistic perspective and as well from the perspective of a family that endured this terrible war.

Sudetic manages to give a strong analysis of the Bosnian conflict, an inside look at the Srebrenica massacre and at the same time, trace the roots and struggles of a Bosnian family who went through the whole ordeal. I had a hard time putting the book down, and eventually myself felt somewhat attatched to the members of the family.

Some say Sudetic is biased towards the Serbs, however this seems to be untrue, when looking at the fair analysis he gives on the history of the region and the criticisms he gives on the actions of the Bosnian government as well as the Croats. This is definitely a valuable book.

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Summary: Brutally sad story of the victims of genocide.
Review: Blood and Vengeance is a gripping account of the date of the unlucky people who were trapped in the Srebrenica "safe" zone. Like no other book, it details the extent of the massacres and the direct participation of ordinary citizens and Serbian higher ups in the massacre of thousands of civilians. A witness even places Gen. Mladic personally supervising executions in a vast killing field that went on for hours. The ineptitude and cowardice of the UN is truly bewildering. The author has trouble getting the story going. The narrative jumps abruptly from the daily life of a Bosnian Muslim family before the war, to the unfolding political events, to Balkan history and even the author's comings and goings. Much attention is paid to minute details, while fundamental areas are glossed over. It is not until the second half, when the featured Muslim Bosnian family is forced into Srebrenica, that everything comes into place. The unfolding international events begin to flow seamlessly into the personal story line, and the book ends up reading like the best (and saddest) of thrillers. Yet the question remains unanswered: How could your neighbor turn into your torturer overnigh

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Summary: Engaging, convicing and tough to put down
Review: Chuck Sudetic has written an excellent book which weaves the experiences of one family in the Serbian conflict with the Muslims Bosnia into the larger political and social context of violence and aggression. The book is a page turner, written in a very engaging journalistic style. The author's criticism of Muslim and Serb atrocities alike appears balanced, and his anger at the failures of politicians and peacekeepers shines clear. The experiences of the Celik family make the massacres and assassinations very real, the reader will be riveted as to the welfare of each family member as they try to escape the violence.

The reader will find that the book gives them an excellent overview of the conflict both in the experiences of individuals and in the political and military decision making.

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Summary: Enlightened at last
Review: During the war in Bosnia, I am ashamed to say that I understood very little about what was really going on. The situation seemed so complex that I was put off reading any articles that might then have shed light on my ignorance. Now, with this remarkable book, I have finally come to understand what really happened. Chuck Sudetic skilfully takes you from the birth of Christ, the Romans, the Ottoman invasions and finally to the situation today. He narrates the war period from the point of view of the Celik family. And in so doing he succeeds in breaking your heart as he recounts the human disaster that took place. Everyone should read this book.

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Summary: former UN soldier in Bosnia.
Review: If you a fact based assessment of what happened to a family living in hell this is a great book. If you want the overall picture of the Bosnian war then look elsewhere.

The author is anti-Serb. The Serbs were excrutiatingly brutal during the war, however all the other sides are not without blame. I witnessed such by the Serbs, but also by the Croats and BiH armies. The Serbs are not the only source of blame albeit a large one.

As one who witnessed atrocities and was told to do nothing about said atrocities by some do-gooder in the NY (UN) wearing a suit these both, shocked and deadened your senses'.

Had the author merely indicated that this is a snapshot of a families life and not an overall indication of WHY the war happened I would have given it 5 stars.

It IS a great book but bear-in-mind the slant against Serbs.

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Summary: Too little, too late
Review: Required reading for my college history class, I haven't put the book down since I started. Good mix of history and a family's story. I don't know if this is my own bias or something I'm picking up from the text, but I seem to be developing an anti-Serb way of thinking and have to keep reminding myself that they suffered too.

Rating:
Summary: Too little, too late
Review: Required reading for my college history class, I haven't put the book down since I started. Good mix of history and a family's story. I don't know if this is my own bias or something I'm picking up from the text, but I seem to be developing an anti-Serb way of thinking and have to keep reminding myself that they suffered too.

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Summary: Shines a bright light on man-made horror.
Review: This great book exposes truths that the world needs to hear, and acknowledge. First, the convenient fallacy that all sides in the Bosnian war were equally guilty of the evils perpetrated there. They weren't. Sudetic also dispenses with the international community's implication that the corrosive violence of 1992 - 1995 was inevitable. It wasn't, but rather was deliberately manipulated by nationalist Serb leaders. And he damningly shreds the fiction that the U.N. did what it could to prevent the Srebrenica massacre, exposing an unbelievable moral cowardice & incompetence, particularly of Bernard Janvier & Yasushi Akashi. Riveting, searing, ultimately heartbreaking. Read it.

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Summary: Sudetic's book is worth the read
Review: What struck me at first about this book was the clear and concise history of Yugoslavia Sudetic provides in the opening chapter. He draws together the salient points of hundreds of years of Balkan history to set the stage for the recent troubles.

Following the Celik family as they are displaced by the war and eventually holed up in the ill-fated town of Srebrenica is moving. The larger picture of how the war progressed and the atrocities committed, by both sides, is infuriating, as is the military inaction of the western governments and the UN. (In fairness, western military action may have only added fuel to the fire - I recommend Rohde's End Game to see the perspective of the troops on the ground and the difficulties they were faced with.)

In all, this book leaves a very real feeling of loss with you, and you will probably come away feeling like people in the Balkans do today: sad at their loss, hungry for revenge, hopeful for a better future.