title: Heavenly Serbia: From Myth to Genocide
author:  Branimir Anzulovic 
description: 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<br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  # Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Durham M. Edith
  
  
  This page formatted 2007 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com
  
  * [PREFACE.](balt_split_2.html#1_0_2)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER ONE. PICKING UP THE THREADS](balt_split_3.html#1_0_3)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER TWO. MONTENEGRO AND HER RULERS](balt_split_4.html#1_0_4)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER THREE. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF LAND AND PEOPLE](balt_split_5.html#1_0_5)
  
  
  
  
  
  * [CHAPTER FOUR. SERBIA AND THE WAY THERE](balt_split_6.html#1_0_6)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER FIVE. WHAT WAS BEHIND IT ALL](balt_split_7.html#1_0_7)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER SIX. THE GREAT SERBIAN IDEA](balt_split_8.html#1_0_8)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER SEVEN. 1903 AND WHAT HAPPENED](balt_split_9.html#1_0_9)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER EIGHT. MACEDONIA, 1903-1904](balt_split_10.html#1_0_10)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER NINE. ALBANIA](balt_split_11.html#1_0_11)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER TEN. MURDER WILL OUT](balt_split_12.html#1_0_12)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER ELEVEN. 1905](balt_split_13.html#1_0_13)
  
  
  * [CHAPTER TWELVE. BOSNIA AND THE 