Customer Reviews

Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know

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In this brief overview, Tim Judah sketches the history (or rather, a history) of Kosovo, up to the present. Of course, brevity entails tough choices, but surely "everyone needs to know" more about the great-power machinations behind this history than Judah chooses to reveal.

This is another book to add for anyone interested in the story of the Balkans that lead to the disintegration of the genocidal regime of Milosevic, who killed hundreds of thousands in Bosnia, Croatia and Albania. With respect to Albania and Bosnia, it is just starting to come out, especially in the Kosovo war(as the atrocities in Bosnia are widely known) the atrocities committed toward women and children. More than 20,000 women have been raped, at least 900 children below the age of 5 massacred, 2500 people taken prisoners whose fate is still unknown as the Serbian war machine was retreating. This among other things shows that the war against the Albanians when it became clear that it couldn't be one of extermination as the world community was mobilizing, it became one of killing the spirit of the new country. It is a pity that the book is being reviewed solely on biased reports that have recently tried to de-legitimize the war that NATO did to save not just the Albanians, and this is mostly an important point that resonates in the book, but to save the international framework of justice and order. Kosovo is a threat to any imperial power subjugating its people, and it is a light of hope to any ethnic group aspiring the right of self-determination. As France prepares to pass the bill of the Armenian genocide, this book is a fresh reminder, that perhaps needs to address after the Jewish, Armenian and Bosnian(still not addressed), the denial of an Albanian Genocide.

This book is not worth reading because the author is so stridently pro-Albanians. He leaves out the genocide Albanians have committed against the Serbs since Serbs left in 99. Serbs according Juda just decided to leave. He just leaves out the tremendous violence against Serbs that has forced them to leave. Not to mention that this book is like a cliffs notes version of his other racist anti-Serb books.

Tim Judah did a very good job. I found it interesting that he advoided speaking about the horrible things that happened on both sides. He walked on egg shells regarding the rape, torture, and genocide the Serbs caused. One important point however that he missed is explaining more into the reasons of the Russians supporting Serbia. He does tell some but never explains their heritage relation. Serbs are Russians and that is why they call eachother brothers and refer to "Mother Russia". Slavs are decendents of Russia and came down to take over land in the early AD's. I think that Tim Judah needed to explain further the past relationship and understanding about the Russians and Serbs so that it makes more sense of why to be on their side compared to just the logistics of Odessa and Georgia. I think he assumed that most readers would know and understand this already but I don't think they do. So, now you know.