War Torn Bosnia

Greenhaven Press's History Firsthand series explores major events in world history through eyewitness accounts. Each volume compiles a variety of contemporary narratives and reminiscences, illuminating the topic from an array of perspectives. These personal anecdotes provide readers with a unique and valuable understanding of how people from different backgrounds confront and interpret their times. Each article is prefaced with a short introduction. Also included are a comprehensive introductory essay and chapter prefaces that place the accounts in context. Additional features of these anthologies include a chronology of significant events of the era, an annotated table of contents to aid readers in identifying relevant material, and a bibliography and index to facilitate further research.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-A good 16-page introduction to the subject is followed by first-person narratives grouped in topical chapters on the causes of the war, atrocities, the siege of Sarajevo, the media, and the world's response. Many of the pieces are excerpts from books by correspondents or government officials, but there are also selections from the diary of an 11-year-old, memoirs of a prisoner of war, and accounts by others who were directly affected by the war. These are in keeping with the aim of the series to personalize history and, in this way, make it more meaningful. Certainly this approach is useful in documenting the vividly described brutalities of the conflict in Bosnia. However, this book may be best used by a knowledgeable teacher who would help students recognize biases and stereotypes, and who would also expand upon the reasons for positions taken by the United States and the United Nations. The editor does give background on the issues in prefaces to the chapters and in introductions to each author, but sometimes the reasons for decisions by governmental bodies are much more complex than can be given in short explanations no matter how good they are. Before delving into this book or those on the list for further reading, high school students would benefit from reading Eric Black's Bosnia: Fractured Region (Lerner, 1999) or James Reger's The Rebuilding of Bosnia (Lucent, 1997).-Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.