Land Without Justice [Paperback]

Milovan Djilas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0156481170 | ISBN-13: 978-0156481175 | Publication Date: March 15, 1972 | Edition: New edition

The autobiography of the youth of the former Vice Presiden of Yugoslovia, which is also the story of a little-know land, Montenegro. Introduction and notes by William Jovanovich. Translated by Michael B. Petrovich.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In this first volume of his autobiography, Djilas, former vice-president of Yugoslavia and author of the historically important best-seller The New Class, deals with his life up to the time he departed for the university at eighteen. As readers of The New Class know, Djilas, a Communist, is highly critical of present Communist states, and in his autobiography he carries his search for the ideal state of justice back to earlier times when he was a youth and studies the harsh environment and heroically proud people of turbulent Montenegro that formed him into an intellectual and leader of the revolution. It is a brutal and primitive portrait that he paints, filled with dramatic history and people, recorded with an unsentimental eye and a poet and philosopher's pen. Although overly detailed and repetitious, this is an unusual document by virtue of its subject and its author's world importance. (Kirkus Reviews )

About the Author

Milovan Djilas (1911-1995), dissident Yugoslav Communist leader and writer, born in Polja, Montenegro. He studied law at the University of Belgrade, where he embraced Marxism, and was subsequently imprisoned for political activities. He became a good friend of Tito and by 1940 was a member of the Politburo of the Yugoslav Communist Party. Fighting with Tito's partisans during World War II, he held numerous high posts in the postwar government and was a leading supporter of Tito's break with the USSR in 1948. By 1953 he was vice president under Tito and widely believed to be his chosen successor. Djilas's criticism of Communist rule, however, led to his loss of all positions and his expulsion from the party in 1954. He was imprisoned in 1956. Upon publication in the West of his The New Class (1957), an exposé of the Communist hierarchy, his sentence was extended. His Conversations with Stalin (1962) cost him another four years in jail. Finally released in 1966, he continued to write and publish. Among his other books are Land Without Justice (1958), and Rise and Fall (1983; trans. 1985), an account of his own government career. The New Class was published in Yugoslavia in 1990.

Product Details

• Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; New edition edition (March 15, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156481170
• ISBN-13: 978-0156481175
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > History > Europe > Yugoslavia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Land Without Justice, January 16, 2000

By 

Lauren A. Burnhill (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Land Without Justice (Paperback)

Born in Montenegro in 1911, Milovan Djilas saw his homeland folded into the communist built nation of Yugoslavia. In deceptively simple, yet lyrical, prose he explains the political, religious and racial feuds that play a crucial role in the region's history. Rising to leadership in the communist party, Djilas was later expelled from the party and imprisoned for "slandering Yugoslavia" a.k.a. speaking his mind. This is a rich, intense and unforgettable book that sheds light on the past as on the continuing saga of the Balkans.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars neglected classic of yugoslavia, March 27, 2002

By 

Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Land Without Justice (Paperback)

Having just read Halberstam's latest book, mostly on Yugoslavia, I was tempted to look into the history of that former country. I found this book on my shelf and gobbled it up in one sitting.

It is the story of Djilas' family in Montenegro, from before the 1st World War until after the revolution that brought Tito to power. It is truly brilliant autobio and also give great insights into the passions that Tito's death helped to unleash in the region.

First, Djilas' family was a kind of local gentry, with leadership responsibilities as well as blood debts to pay. As a child, Djilis had to worry for his father's life, which was threatened by retribution. It is hard to imagine how a grade-school kid survived that psychologically whole and in the end was the one to end the cycle of revenge-feuds. He brings these anxieties to life in chilling detail.

Second, there are the destructive impulses - pathologies, really - that infected everything in Baakan life. This included his father's shame in the memory that he was called on to participate in the massacre of a peaceful muslim village nearby, which is horrifically described, as well as the long discussions with his would-be killers who staked out his house at night. You will really feel them when you read this.

Third, there is the death of Montenegro's independence as a nation, which forms the backdrop to the book. It demonstrates how shaky the foundation of the nation was and how little Tito did to help overcome these divisions in spite of his caudillo-like rule over almost 40 years.

What emerges in this book is how truly great a writer Djilas was, one of the best European writers of the 20C in my opinion. I could not read it in the original, but the translation is simply wonderful. SO many phrases combine wisdom and elegant succinctness, such as: "the story of a family is the story of a land." While he might have been a bit self-serving - he was a dissident who started out as Tito's propaganda minister - Djilas portrays himself as a tolerant humanist and democrat in this book. His voice will be missed as one of reason for that troubled region.

Highest recommendation. You enter a world long departed and yet, as recent events show, still determining the tragedies of the present.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding the Balkans, June 21, 2009

By 

Philip R. Taylor "+" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Land Without Justice (Paperback)

This should have been a must read for all those who, 20 years ago, thought they understood what was happening in the Balkan States. Even today our planners and leaders still don't get it. Everyone in the CIA, State Dept, and in any way advising the President must read this book. Milovan Djilas got it right and was dead on, 50 years ago, when he wrote this book. It's a facinating book and opens the door wide for the reader to view the ethnic and religious hatred of this troubled region.

Vicar Phil Taylor+