The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans

The book itself is wonderful and author does a wonderful job of explaining the years of conflict in the in this particular region of the world. There are times particularly in the introduction when you want the author to shut up and get on with the story. Later on you see how much this one example(in the beginning) kind of weaves all of the points to come together. Overall-Good book if you like history (and good journalism)

It's a pleasure to read reminiscences of masterful writers such as William F. Buckley (his sailing books have won him a well-deserved place of honor in sports writing) and Simon Winchester... and as he has seen Yugoslavia in her salad days, prosperous and peaceful, then returned to catalogue the horrors that followed her dissolution, Winchester is the perfect guide through that terribly unhappy place.Winchester takes us with him on journeys along the Dalmatian coast (through land that is now divided unequally between Croatia, the Bosnian Serb Republic, and the patchwork government of Bosnia-Hercegovina), through the vainglorious, charming and not yet war-torn land of Montenegro, across the ghastly fields of Kosovo just as the Serbs withdrew before NATO forces, across Macedonia, then through parts of Eastern Europe that have been spared the advantages of Serbian leadership and thus remain peaceful and happy.All through his travels, Winchester shows us the people who live in these lands, shares with us his bemusement at the human capacity to live around disaster and his shock and sorrow at our capacity to abandon our humanity when we go a-warring, to save our worst outrages for our close neighbors, and forget that Europe has been Christian for nearly 1800 years or, for that matter, what the word "Christian" means.Winchester's command of the history of the area is intimidating and overpowering... he shows us entire worlds that we never suspected even existed... capital cities nestled in remote mountain summits and ruled by dynasties of hereditary bishops, places where there are two Orthodox churches vying for a shrinking pool of believers, customs sublime and gross.I usually hesitate to award a perfect score to a book, no matter how well-written, because it's all too easy for a fellow author like myself to carp at shortcomings that are all too obvious to me - but Simon Winchester has defeated me. His is a complete book, and for me to criticize it would be sheer effrontery. Buy it, read it, and be delighted.

The Fracture Zone is one of the most unusual books I have ever read. It provides a mosaic of perspectives on the former Yugoslavia centering on the UN-led end of the most recent conflicts in the region. Although the effect can be a little unsettling, the advantage of the approach is to make the experience more personal and more human than a narrower, more disciplined method would have done.The book's premise is to share the author's experiences through the context of his former visit during peaceful times to the same region, historical perspective on why and how the tensions and conflicts have evolved, and on-the-ground insights from conversations with those who hate and those who do not. The effect is not unlike what one's own experiences might have been like if a time machine brought us first into the year 1858 in South Carolina and then in the same area in the year 1865. Without more perspective, someone from Kosovo would not be able to understand what had happened between the two times. That is what the author has been trying to accomplish in this book.Through flashbacks and narration, you will travel twice (once before the wars, and once after them) through the former Yugoslavia on a journey starting in Vienna and ending in Istanbul. You will have many unforgettable moments, like seeing thousands of displaced refugees squatting in a former alpine meadow while overwhelmed army forces try to save lives. You'll learn what a Sarajevo rose is (no, it's not what you think). And you will find how historical lessons can be used as excuses to fan current hatreds of those who are similar and different from oneself. All of this has an incredible immediacy because this is like the worst of the Nazi era, being relived in many ways in our own times. The author keeps asking, why? He poses some answers, but ultimately, it is unanswerable. Perhaps in time, we can make sense of this terrible tragedy. Here are some cautions: Anyone who wants a serious history will not like this book. Anyone who wants a brilliant essay will be even less satisfied. If you are open to a new approach to understanding an extremely complex circumstance, you will find this book to be interesting. It will expand your curiosity, and that will be good. We all need to ponder the lessons here, to help avoid their recurrence. Share this book with one other person, so the memory will expand.

This book is great for understanding the reasons for the wars in the former Yugoslavia- wars which may yet spread beyond those artificial boundaries. It's refreshing to see researched opinion, rather than emotional polemics, about that troubled region.

If you've ever been curious about why the Balkans are in such trouble, this is the book for you. Winchester writes beautifuly explaining the history of the Balkans and why the problems exist. Great book, great writing.