Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant

2001: Slobodan Milosevic appeared in court somber-faced; remaining as defiant and arrogant as ever in response to the charges leveled at him by a presiding judge. It seems like he was brought to justice only by chance; consequently his indictment and later arrest proves that no war criminal can hide forever. His name cropped up repeatedly when war in Kosovo broke out in 1998 and more so when NATO forces intervened and bombed rump Yugoslavia throughout the spring and early summer of 1999. Years before, in Bosnia, he was seen as a problem-solver, appeasing opposing parties and mediators at the Dayton Accords. Three years later, he was seen as the opposite: manipulative, conniving, secretive, deceiving and a perpetrator of gross human rights. The question of his life and background has remained constant, one of speculation and mystery. Dusko Doder and Louise Branson, therefore, have written the first definitive biography of Slobodan Milosevic. Although their work appeared some time before he was overthrown in October 2000 and later brought to justice in The Hague (obviously the biography is now in need of a little bit of revision in order for it to be up-to-date), it helped to place the Kosovo war into its proper context by focusing on Milosevic, who to all intended purposes, ignited the ethnic question in the Serbian province to his own advantage and did not balk at violating human rights toward transforming Kosovo into a province dominated by Serbs. His early years, through his birth in Pozarevac, Serbia, on August 22, 1941, to his time at Belgrade University where he became a Communist Party member that played an important role in his development, are detailed in this biography. Emphasis is placed on Milosevic's two-faced diplomacy abroad and at home, where friends one day became enemies to be `removed,' just like the people under his rule, seen through the wars in (respectively) Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The biography is written and reads like a fast-paced novel, filled with all the almost unreal espionage and seedy characters to be ideally found in fiction. A study of Yugoslavia's demise is incomplete without Doder and Branson's magnificent and revealing biography; to date, there are other works coming out, and surely more will appear, but it remains to be seen if they surpass the current.

This portrait of one of most disruptive and important figures in the Balkans is handled with insight,balance,and a deep knowledge of the historical and cultural complexities of Southeastern Europe. From a journalist team who lived in the region and speak its languages, the reader is given a unique and accurate picture of the Balkan psyche, mentalities, unresolved aspirations, and crosswinds of post-Cold War tensions which continue to play out in the region. It is an indespensible volume necessary for understanding both past and future events.

This book is the perfectly reflecting the situation in Serbia under dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic. The author is extremely well informed about the facts of Balcan turmoil, provoked by dictator Slobodan Milosevic. Excellent reading selection for any serious politician.

This book has been well written and presents insight into the current ruling dictator of Yugoslavia. A must for anyone who has a serious interest in Balkan politics and history.

Slobodan Milosevic, the President of Serbia, has been called a psychopath, a fascist, a narcissistic dictator, an ultra-nationalist/communist - and in fact he is the first sitting head of state to be accused of war crimes (by the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague). This superb book provides in vivid detail the "blood-spattered timeline of Milosevic's misrule". The authors are gifted journalists and know what they're talking about, having lived in Belgrade during much of that time, and have thoroughly researched and interviewed principal players for insights into Milosevic's sick personna. They also provide a chilling portrait of Milosevic's partner-in-power wife, Mira, who seems to be even more evil and out of it than her husband. It seems incredible that after steady losses in his dream of a Greater Serbia (in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo), this man Milosevic still remains in power as, essentially, Europe's Saddam Hussein. This absorbing book is must reading for those who want to understand this incredible story.