Breaking the South Slav Dream: The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia [Hardcover]

Kate Hudson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0745318827 | ISBN-13: 978-0745318820 | Publication Date: June 20, 2003

This book provides a revisionist history of the rise and fall of Yugoslavia. Assessing the geo-political and geo-strategic reasons for its creation and dismemberment, it is an important corrective to much contemporary theorising about the destruction of the Yugoslav state. In particular Kate Hudson draws attention to the role of foreign states whose involvement in Yugoslavia did much to destabilise the region, and explains how and why this happened. Tracing the state's origins from 1918 through war and the Tito years, she explains the distortion of the socialist economy resulting from Yugoslavia's unusual position between the two Cold War blocs, and the economic collapse of the 1980s as part of the US's drive for a free market. She also investigates the true causes and effects of the recent wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo and brings the book up-to-date with an analysis of Milosevic's downfall, and events in Macedonia and Montenegro.

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘has the potential to reopen the debate over the collapse of Yugoslavia, thus establishing the title as an original contribution to the ongoing discussion on the Balkans ... a very valuable addition’ --Vassilis Fouskas, Kingston University

About the Author

Kate Hudson is Principal Lecturer in Russian and East European Politics at South Bank University. She is editor of Contemporary Politics, and author of European Communism since 1989.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Press (June 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745318827
• ISBN-13: 978-0745318820
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,990,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a Chomskyist interpretation of Yugoslavia, December 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Breaking the South Slav Dream: The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia (Paperback)

This is a relatively short overview of Yugoslavia from 1918 to its final demise in 2003. The first half of the book covers the creation of Yugoslavia, its WW2 break-up and its re-creation as a socialist federation under Marshall Tito. The chapters are brief and straightforward with little new information.

The second half of the book tends to stray into the realm of suspicion and paranoia that is a staple for this part of the world. Hudson unfortunately sees everything that happened in Yugoslavia since 1980 as a consequence of American capitalist imperialism.

By the end, I was really tired of this book, even tho it is less than 200 pages. If you want a more objective look at why Yugoslavia so tragically shattered into pieces, look elsewhere. If you want proof that Uncle Sam is manipulating the entire world out of sheer geopolitical aggression, here is your champion.