Heavenly Serbia: From Myth to Genocide (Hardcover)

by Branimir Anzulovic (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
An independent scholar living in Washington, DC, Anzulovic interprets Serbia's violent history as a consequence of historical legacies: Saint Sava's mystical identification of the church and nation, glorified killing in such works as Petar P. Njego s's Mountain Wreath (1986), and the "pagan-tribal ethos" of the Balkans and of Serbia in particular. The book's strength consists of illustrating a national ideology woven from myth and historical episode. Indeed, its title derives from the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Polje, in which a messenger from Saint Elias offered Prince Lazar a "heavenly kingdom" in accepting Serbian defeat. Anzulovic posits the revitalized myth promoted by Orthodox clergy, popular writers, and urban intellectuals as the source of the recent genocidal war. Although acknowledging policies imposed from without, the author overlooks Serbia's experience as a victim of past aggression. Likewise, the "many" Serbs who want a life of peace and toleration are only passingly recognized. Nevertheless, the book's grasp of Serbian culture extends far beyond the superficial "ancient hatreds" thesis of Balkan war. Scholars will find it a good companion to Timothy Judah's more general The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia (LJ 3/15/97). Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.AZachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A good example of the genre, made all the more useful by Anzulovic's excellent command of the literature." -- Ivo Banac, History of Religions, Vol. 41, No. 2

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814706711
• ISBN-13: 978-0814706718
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #745,422 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Heavenly Serbia: From Myth to Genocide ?, February 6, 2004

By	George V. Mrvichin (Valinda, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The author has expressed an agenda which is not supported by the facts. I offer the reader the following works to gain a better insight into this subject: "THE SERBIAN FOLK EPIC Its Theology and Anthropology by Rev. Dr. Krstivoj Kotur"; "SAINT PETER OF MONTENEGRO by V. Rev. Vladimir M. Mrvichin"; "THE MOUNTAIN WREATH of P.P. Nyegosh"; "HERO TALES AND LEGENDS OF THE SERBIANS by W.M. Petrovich"; "MARKO, THE KING'S SON by Clarence A. Manning". A brief review of almost any of these works will provide clarity, when compered with Anzulovic's work. A number of other materials are available to the reader at less cost, and may provide insight to a area of world conflict ("SPY IN THE VATICAN by Bronkn Bokum"; "THE SERBS CHOOSE WAR by Ruth Mitchell";...).

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars There's nothing scholarly about it., May 30, 2001

By	"jazzlevyjoe" (Oxford, OH) - See all my reviews

How this claptrap passes for academic research is beyond me. For instance, I was especially surprised to learn that the Serbs intended to take over the Austro-Hungarian Empire before WW1. Anzulovic writes, with characteristic unsound thinking, that "Serbia's expansionist drive was evident [before WW1] when it sponsored the 1914 murder in order to destabilize the Austro-Hungarian monarchy (which stood in the way of its northward and westward expansion)." This is such a distortion that it's

laughable. Small Serbia invade the Austro-Hungarian Empire? What were the editors at NYU thinking? It makes you wonder why the US and Western Allies ever sided with the Serbs in the first place if indeed the Serbs were the root cause of the trouble in WW1. A joke, right, surely it is. I don't much care for other ridiculous mysoethnic statements Anzulovic makes throughout this D-thesis paper, such as "[The Eastern Orthodox Church], extremely closely connected with state and nation, long ago neglected the gospel and devoted itself to political issues to a higher degree than any other Christian Church." Anzulovic later goes on to tell us that this church can be juxtaposed against "authentic Christian thought." Overgeneralization? You haven't heard the half of it. This is truly embarrassing.

26 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book would be laughable if not for the..., January 23, 2003

By	M. Cook (D.C, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

many people that are obviously lapping it up as well researched truth. What we have here is rehashed Croatian & Vatican propaganda that can be easily refuted by any serious, unbiased, scholarly college freshman.