The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society) (Hardcover)

by Michael A. Sells (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
A Serbian American professor of religion, Sells (Mystical Languages of Unsaying, Univ. of Chicago, 1994) explores all angles surrounding the recent systematic destruction of the Bosnian Muslims. He lays down a solid background of the origins of the war and explains the Serbian attitude that religion equals nationality, which shows why the Serbs believe the Muslims are traitorous to their country. Sells also describes Croatia's role in the conflict. Along with some fascinating reports and details on the genocide, he spends the final two chapters blasting the UN, NATO, and the West for not becoming more involved in stopping the crimes against the Bosnians. His work is recommended for all academic and large public libraries for its ability to explain this confusing war clearly.?Jill Jaracz, Professionals Lib. Service, Chicago
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The Washington Post
"[President] Clinton's favorite Balkans book [is] A Bridge Betrayed, by Haverford College religion professor Michael Sells, which argues that the various ethnic groups actually had gotten along well for centuries. Sells, of Serbian descent, writes that strife in the Balkans can be blamed, not on historic enmity but on more recent anti-Muslim Serbian nationalist rantings. Clinton apparently liked this book so much that he sent it around to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen, national security adviser Sandy Berger and Joint Chiefs Chairman Henry Hugh Shelton as required reading."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (October 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520206908
• ISBN-13: 978-0520206908
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,507,720 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trenchant insight into the Bosnian crisis, March 29, 1999

By A Customer

Unlike other accounts of the recent wars in the Balkans, Michael Sells' book does not merely chronicle the events that led to the catastrophe. The value of this fine work lies in the author's ability to present the underlying ideas, cultural constructs and religious passions that have flamed the genocide in Bosnia. The author focuses mostly on the Serb-Orthodox construct of Christoslavism, but also shows how the Western prejudices against the region have allowed genocide to occur in Europe at the end of the twentieth century. Resting on well-documented research (over fifty pages of footnotes plus appendices), it is an erudite and passionate argument for kindness and humanity towards those less fortunate than us.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable source for understandning the Bosnian war, February 10, 2004

By	Srebrenica Forever (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society , No 11) (Paperback)

Although of Serbian origin, Michael Sells offers a detailed, unbiased and honest analysis of Serbian nationalism and Christian fundamentalism. Sells argues that Christian mythology and extremism helped enable the annihilation of an entire people. Driven by an ancient hatred for the Turks which dates back to the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the Serbs have always viewed Muslims as their primary adversary. Today, many Serbian nationalists deliberately associate Bosnian Muslims with the Ottomans even though no such link exists. However, this is sophisticated propaganda, the goal of which is to mislead the Serbian people and to induce hatred in them. This strategy turned out to be very successful because it unleashed the extermination of Bosnian Muslims. Numerous testimonies offered by the survivors of the Bosnian war lend considerable support to Sells' thesis, namely that Christian extremism played a pivotal role in justifying the genocide of Bosnian Muslims. For example, many survivors reported being called "bloody Turks" by Serbs soldiers. Other similar derogatory slurs were frequently used by Serb soldiers, revealing great hatred for Muslims. Moreover, a systematic destruction of mosques and other Islamic architecture indicate that the Serbs wanted to obliterate every single trace of Islam in Bosnia. The fact that every single mosque has been destroyed in Republika Srpska speaks for itself. Conversely, many churches remain intact in the area controlled by the Bosnian government. In point of fact, only a few churches have been destroyed. It needs to be pointed out that Croats also purposely targeted historical monuments, as is evident in their destruction of Stari Most, the infamous old bridge in Mostar, the symbolic significance of which cannot be overstressed. For many years, the bridge had symbolized co-existence and a multiethnic society. By destroying the bridge, the Croat nationalists sent a clear message, namely that co-existence was not feasible. Christian fundamentalism and propaganda are also highly evident in literary works of many Christian writers. A novelist and a recipient of Nobel Prize, Ivo Andric, depicted Muslims as primitive and intransigent extremists whose principal goal was to create an Islamic state in Bosnia, clearly oblivious to the fact that Bosnia was a secularized society. Many renowned Serbian authors openly express similar views, one of which is Vuk Draskovic, known for his bigotry, parochialism and Islamophobia. Paradoxically, few attempts are made in Serbia to criticize these preposterous let alone distorted assertions, the sole purpose of which is to defame the adherents of the Islamic faith. Sells further correctly points out in his book that the Western (read Christian) world knowingly stood by and allowed for the Bosnian genocide to continue. The evidence to corroborate this claim is abundant. The imposition of the arms embargo, constant futile negotiations with a notorious war criminal Milosevic and Vance-Owens's plan to partition Bosnia into a Serb and a Croat part, leaving nothing to Bosnian Muslims, thereby rewarding the aggressor and punishing the victim. In spite of the initial collaboration with Muslims, the Croats suddenly turned their back on Muslims and began destroying them, presumably thinking that it is better to kill Muslims (the alien) than their fellow Christians- the Serbs. In point of fact, Tudjman and Milosevic had secretly agreed to divide Bosnia into a Serb and a Croat part. Sells' book lucidly divulges the crucial role of Christian fanaticism and mythology in allowing for the genocide of Bosnian Muslims to occur. This is truly a well written, well argued and thoroughly documented account of the Bosnian war. Highly recommended.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Religion as a Catalyst for War, September 28, 1998

By A Customer

Michael Sells has written an important book that ranges the history of Bosnia from the days of the Ottoman invasion leading to the war that tore apart the Balkans. Few people have read Sells' book, but it is intensely readable and is instrumental in anyone's comprehension of what really caused the carnage of the Balkan War. He acknowledges the complexity of the region, and does not pretend to portray a comprehensive view of the war from a purely objective stance. Those who pretend to be objective, he says, are naive at best. He therefore limits his explanation of the war through the lens of religion, and the role it played as a catalyst to the outbreak of hostilities. If you cannot spend time in Bosnia, talking to the people there, seeing the mass graves that litter the countryside-- reading this book is a good beginning in developing a basic understanding of what occured there and why.