Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II

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Summary: One of my favorite books of all time. The untold story.
Review: I watch TV news religiously, both network and cable, and I was unaware of the magnitude of war crimes taking place in the Serbo-Croation war, and of the U.N.'s dismal efforts to sustain peace and help those in danger of ethnic cleansing (read execution into pre-dug mass graves) and the ramifications of the U.S. under Clinton not fighting to save lives as Slobodan Milosevic and others carried on these atrocities.This book inspired me to sponsor a Muslim Bosnian woman through a support organization. You've heard of the Holocaust. Now you need to hear this story, too.

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Summary: This book is TRASH
Review: If some of you have read most of the reviews of this book listed in this web site, you would have noticed that there is one particular review from a Serb girl who claims this book is full of lies and that the real victims are the Serbs. This is truly a sad fact. Seven years after these horrors took place, there is still a large Serb population that believes that none of this ever happened. In many ways, it would be similar to have Germans believe that the Nazy holocaust never took place right after WW II ended. But the facts are the facts. 7079 men are still missing, and this book does a wonderful job at explaing why that is. I also found intersresting than my views on the Dutch Bat have changed somewhat. They have been protrait often as cowards and racists when in reality they were just soldiers sent on a sucide mission and managed by the most incompetent handful of burocrats of the last century. I truly felt sorry for the Dutch soldiers and it makes me wonder what would have happened if the UN would have done what it supposed to and defended the civilians they had promised to protect. This is a book everyone must read. I have. Three times.

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Summary: Excellent
Review: Mr Rohde narrates a compelling story woven around facts that many in the US and Western Europe still try to hide. Endgame accurately portrays the cause of the fall of Srebrenica as well as the Bosnian crisis as not the centuries old religious war that most are led to believe, but hyper-nationalistic propaganda spawned from the likes of Milosevic and Karadizic. Regardless of the cause, Rohde's Endgame forces the reader to realize that the people of Srebrenica are victims of circumstances truly beyond their control. While Mr Rohde does his best to relate all that occurred, one cannot fully understand the true horrors that the people of Srebrenica and of Bosnia went through, nor all the missed political opportunities by the West. Anyone who discounts this book at sensationalistic and faulty truly does not understand why this book was written. If you plan extensive reading on the Balkans crisis, one need not look further for a better source of information.

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Summary: Excellent account of a terrible tragedy
Review: Rhodes has put together a thorough examination of all sides involved in what can confidently be called one of the worst tragedies to befall the European continent since WWII. Rhodes provides remarkable insight from the Dutch, Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Muslim perspective.
The reader has to carefully weigh the accounts from each side, mainly based on the image each faction wants to portray, to include the Dutch peacekeepers and senior UN Military leadership at UNPROFOR headquarters.
Of note for military officers, this book offers a valuable case study for a very precarious leadership predicament--i.e. that of the Dutch peacekeepers and the senior military leadership in Sarajevo.
A depressing story, but well written

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Summary: Rohde knows his stuff
Review: The version of Rohde's book I read is titled 'A Safe Area -- Srebrenica: Europe's Worst Massacre since the 2nd World War" but I reckon it has the same content. Srebrenica is really a microcosm of the larger crisis -- the Bosnian war -- as the other enclaves demonstrated. I don't profess to understand alot of the issues which surrounded and still continue to surround the discussion of the Balkan war today. There was obviously historical ethnic hatred among part of the population which spread to the rest through nationalistic propaganda combining wrongful portrayal of history and religion. There was the role of politicians, not only from the warring countries, but from the international community. But all these would not have been enough for the bloody war. In his recounting of the siege on Srebrenica, Rohde's book cleverly reconstructs the 10 day ordeal which the residents of Srebrenica had to endure when the world just sat and waited. Through eyewitness accounts, interviews and research, Rohde manages to piece together a chronology of what happened before and after the fall of the enclave. The honest, unsentimental and chilling account reveals that the international community had big ambitions, expected the peacekeepers to do wondrous things but their roles were not clearly defined and they were not given the support in terms of materials and weapons to protect themselves, much less the people. It all ended in a debacle of factions blaming one another for the failure to defend the enclave, when there was no will from the important players to being with. The whole Bosnian war and the case of Srebrenica showed how war is really used by politicians as a means to shore up their reputations and expand their influence. It begins with their approval, it starts with them igniting the fire, but when the time comes, the soldiers and fighters are the ones doing the dirty work and getting the blame at the end of it. The international community's inability or unwillingness to arrest Mladic and Karadzic is clearly due to the fact that these were the same men they made agreements and deals with. These same men would be able to implicate them. The war was a war of manipulators and profiteers, but what am I saying, all wars serve to benefit the select few who "seize the opportunity". Rohde's revealing study is dark, disturbing and not for the faint-hearted. But it's a must read for those who wish to have a better understanding of the war in Bosnia, and have basis to ponder: what kind of humanity do we belong to which values the lives of people based on their power, wealth, race and religion?

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Summary: One more thing
Review: there is an interesting rebuttal of this propaganda piece which prompted the author of this book to personally respond. I found it particularly interesting as Mr Rohde reverted to personal attacks when his lies and manipulations were challenged. It's written by Jared Israel and it's located here http://www.tenc.net/articles/jared/fulltext.htm

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Summary: Wow...
Review: This book is extremely well written. This must have taken an incredible amount of work and talent to write because I must say, this is brilliant journalism. Rohde, in addition gives an excellent analysis of this troubling conflict and attempts to give reasons for the failure of the world in Srebrenica. He isn't afraid of criticizing each side for their actions in this horrendous atrocity. This is probably the best journalistic account of the Bosnian conflict that I have come accross. Rohde is definitely a top class writer, this book was hard to put down.

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Summary: Here is your answer.
Review: This book should be required reading, especially for those who are unable to comprehend why America is still maintaining a presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, six years later. The book does not deny that atrocities were committed on all sides of the Bosnian conflict. It simply relives the horror of genocide perpetrated on a single city by a power-hungry dictator and his military leader, both wanted for war crimes against humanity. As an American who lived in Bosnia for over a year, I have spoken with survivors on both sides of the war, and Rohde's story rings true. While there are critics of his account, the genocide of Srebrenica can be denied no more than can the Holocaust; 7,000 men do not simply disappear and mass graves do not lie. Rohde does a wonderful job re-telling the cruel truth of that city's fall, as well as exploring the failure of the leaders of the international community in fulfilling obligations to the victims while covering their own political hides and again turning a cowardly eye to blatant genocide in Europe. A great book, one that I intend to keep and share with others who blindly ask "Why should WE be in Bosnia?" Here is your answer.

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Summary: A good read, although could be more complete
Review: This is a well written book and with its hour by hour simultaneous documentary approach is rather like another book I have called "The Day Guernica Died" by different authors published 30 years ago. This one looks at the actions, or inactions, of those involved on the ground, and at the wider political picture including that of the pontification of UN and NATO leaders, who you feel after reading this may as well not been there at all. After reading it you get a good feel for what happened, except in a few places where the author admits he can't decide betweenn conflicting accounts, but are still left wondering about why it happened - what was the basis of the underlying ehtnic tensions that lead to the Muslims, Serbs and Croats having the attitudes to each other that they did? The whole war in former Yugoslavia seemed quite unbelievable to those of us who were well removed from the events, and probably even to those in some neighbouring countries. After all, it was (and still is) a lovely countryside full of historic pretty towns and villages and the people seemed unified under Tito who, although communist, wasn't under the Soviet yoke. In fact the people had a reputation for humor and fun - within a short space of time it all changed. We are told that in WWII the Croats generally aligned themselves with the Nazis while the Serbs generally fought against them, but not a whole lot more. (The author doesn't mention that the Muslims generally aligned themselves with the Nazis too and in fact formed an SS division, Handshar.) This background information is something you will need to look for elsewhere. A few photos in the book would have helped also.

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Summary: The Truth
Review: This is an outstanding book that reveals the gruesome atrocities that were committed by Bosnian Serbs. It sheds light on the worst massacre in Europe after the World War 2. The United Nations, along with the rest of the world, are accountable for the fall of Srebrenica. I am originally from Srebrenica but I am currently living in Sweden. This book is extremely important because it provides an objective account. David Rohde presents overwhelming evidence in support of his account of the massacre. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the truth about the massacre in Srebrenica.