Marcus Tanner was Balkan correspondent of the London Independent from 1988 to 1994 and subsequently the paper's assistant foreign editor. He is also the author of Ireland's Holy Wars: The Struggle for a Nation's Soul, 1500-2000 (ISBN 0 300 09072 2), also published by Yale University Press.
"[Tanner] brings to bear wide knowledge of Yugoslavia and experience of Europe's worst war since 1945. [He] gives a good historical survey and an account of the war's causes." Economist "Lucid and accessible." Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard "Readable and stimulating... Long-overdue corrective to the onesidedly negative view long entertained about Croatia by the educated British public." Times Higher Education Supplement "A much-needed introduction to this southern Slavic country, whose past and present defy simple categorisation... Written with vigour, full of absorbing stories and important insights, [the book] deserves to be read." Aleska Djilas, New York Times Book Review "The insights [Tanner brings] to [his] subject in his brave and compelling book will remain valid for many years to come." David Rieff, Toronto Globe and Mail "By far, the best book on the history of Croatia ever published." Choice
"[Tanner] brings to bear wide knowledge of Yugoslavia and experience of Europe's worst war since 1945. [He] gives a good historical survey and an account of the war's causes." Economist "Lucid and accessible." Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard "Readable and stimulating... Long-overdue corrective to the onesidedly negative view long entertained about Croatia by the educated British public." Times Higher Education Supplement "A much-needed introduction to this southern Slavic country, whose past and present defy simple categorisation... Written with vigour, full of absorbing stories and important insights, [the book] deserves to be read." Aleska Djilas, New York Times Book Review "The insights [Tanner brings] to [his] subject in his brave and compelling book will remain valid for many years to come." David Rieff, Toronto Globe and Mail "By far, the best book on the history of Croatia ever published." Choice
Rather than just focusing on the years since the break up of Yugoslavia, or the death of Tito, Tanner, correspondent for London's Independent has reached further back in history. In 1519, Pope Leo X described Croatia as the Antemurale Christianitatis, the "Ramparts of Christendom" and a little later, it was saddled by the Hapsburgs with a physical manifestation of that position, the Krajina, a border of castles manned primarily by Serbs. This swathe of militant Serbs would define much of the country's history, this, and it's long experience of foreign domination. There was constant tension with Hungary which claimed suzerainty over Croatia, and Tanner describes in great detail the unsuccessful attempts to Hungarianize Croatia. The South Slav movement of the late 19th century finally resulted in 1918 when Croatia became part of the South Slav Federation; however, by the mid-30s, old animosities between Serbs and Croats resurfaced. A few days after Germany declared war on Yugoslavia, the fascist Croatian nationalists, the Ustashe, began their brutal rule under the Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska (Independent State of Croatia or NDH). During the NDH, the Serbs suffered huge losses‘though exactly how many died, is indeterminable with claims ranging from 50,000 to 600,000. Still when Tito (himself half-Slovene, half-Croatian) and his Partisans prevailed at the end of the war, they retaliated, killing at least 30,000 NDH soldiers. The final impression of this very accessible and consistently engrossing history is not optimistic. The brief period of Yugoslavian unity would seem to be an authoritarian anomaly, but for now, at least, division seems mandated by centuries of hatred. (Apr.)
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