An excellent thought-provoking book about the journalist author’s own experiences during the Balkan War. While telling her own, her daughter’s, & her friends’ stories, readers are forced to look inside themselves. These folks were us, how would we feel with war at our doorstep, how would we look at war refugees, how would we look at the “others”? An important book now for the divisions in our society & the ease with which we label people & how we may be just as close to the complex war as the Balkan countries found themselves. ( )

I am Greek. Balkan blood runs in my veins and I am proud of it. I have read extensively on the subject of the terrible war that left a deep, bloody mark on the Balkan region during the early 90s. This book is probably one of the worst I've ever read.

Most writers try to provide an honest, balanced, level-headed account of the conflict. This book was full of cheap sentimentalism, hysterics, prejudices and hate speech. She claimed that ''nationality'' creates dangerous boundaries, she preaches against authoritarianism and violence and yet she does not forget to include every offensive remark uttered by citizens against other citizens (and I avoid on referring to countries on purpose...). She creates an extremely one-sided account of the conflict and her writing reads like a lecture. Or a melodramatic gossip. Not to mention that she is sarcastic towards films that depicted the Nazis as monsters. Yes, sure. They weren't monsters at all... Those films probably hurt her feelings...

No, simply no. ( )

Short, honest essays. At one stage removed from the frontline of the war, which means it's not as bleak as it could otherwise have been. Most interesting essays are those wrestling with national moral questions, such as what should happen to a Croatian actress who performed in Belgrade during the war. Theme throughout is how the war tainted everyone with "nationality", whether they wanted to be or not. ( )

Terse, revealing short essays Drakulic wrote as Yugoslavia was exploding into many pieces in 1991. Her dread as the war comes to Croatia and her observations on how everyone, even those who resist it, are 'nationalized' should be warnings to all who feel the thrill of war coming over them. More at http://www.allinoneboat.org/2013/07/21/war-a-head-spinning-spiral/ ( )