The Quick and the Dead: Under Siege in Sarajevo

This is a really great, and thoroughly sad book about what happened in Bosnia in the early-mid 90's during the war. It focuses primarily on Sarajevo and it's time under siege by the Serbs. Janine Di Giovanni adds the element of peoples' personal stories and struggles during the war (and after, for some), which helps really bring it a lot closer and puts a face on what people were actually going through, and how the horrors of war affected them. They are also her personal stories as well. She did cover what happened in a few other towns outside of Sarajevo as well, in particular, Mostar, the city of a once beautiful and age-old bridge. It concentrates almost entirely on the experiences of the Bosnian-Muslim population, since they were the ones under siege in Sarajevo. She does mention a few encounters with Serbs, none positive. Another element I really am glad she included, was some of the history, as cursory as it was and had to be for such short book, it was enough gain a very basic understanding of what happened and a slightly better idea why. Finally, she brings in the point that the world stood by so long and watched what was happening, and what human beings, once again, and tragically so, were doing to each other. She makes it so personal, to our benefit, so it's not just news anymore, ordinary people, like you and me, in extrodinary circumstances, and it made me wonder what it would have been like had it been me and family and friends suffering.