Origins of a catastrophe

by Warren Zimmermann

Warren Zimmermann was the last United States ambassador to Yugoslavia. Origins of a Catastrophe is his highly personal, authoritative account of a doomed country's descent into war and genocide. His book answers the questions millions have asked: What happened? Why did it happen? And what does it have to do with us? This is a story of villains. Challenging conventional wisdom, Zimmermann shows that the wars in Yugoslavia, culminating in the slaughter in Bosnia, sprang not from ancient blood lusts but from the conscious actions of extremist leaders like Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia and Franjo Tudjman of Croatia. The deformities in the character and policies of these and other ethnic supremacists come alive in their own words, recounted from the author's in-depth discussions with them. This is also the story of people who resisted the racist propaganda of their leaders. Origins of a Catastrophe paints a vivid picture of political leaders and ordinary citizens who fought for democratic re