Milošević and Marković : a lust for power /

This well-written, colorful political biography of Serbia's infamous power couple is best appreciated by the casual reader. Its narration and analysis of their relationship is relatively modest, though quite credible and always entertaining. But short chapters and breezy prose omit important tangential details and are unsupported by notes or bibliography, adding only marginally to existing scholarship. Unfortunately, much of what a Western reader would regard as "new" is unsubstantiated or blatantly false. Even the book's scathing attacks on Milosevic have the effect of minimizing the responsibility of those Serbs who fervently supported and personally carried out his policies. Written for a Serbian audience, the text reflects the mind-set of the country's many liberal activists who blame Milosevic, Yugoslavia's other peoples, and the Western powers in roughly equal measure. It stresses Slovenia's and Germany's responsibility for Yugoslavia's bloody collapse, repeatedly alludes to "NATO aggression," omits Bosnian-Serb crimes, presents a flattering portrait of Ratko Mladic (while wholly omitting mention of the Srebrenica massacre), characterizes the Bosnian-Serb insurrection as a "national awakening," etc. In this respect, the book may be valuable to scholars mainly as a window into the contemporary Serbian mind-set. There are also a significant number of typographical errors. General and undergraduate collections. C. Ingrao Purdue University

Milosevic and Markovic: A Lust for Power, a very timely biography of the despotic duo, comes from Yugoslavian journalist Slavoljub Djukic (He, She, and Us); who for 12 years, since leaving the Serbian press, he has studied the "second-rate politician"-turned-potentate. Djukic follows Milosevic from his childhood and adolescence through his toeing-the-line early administrative career and immediate co-dependence with Mirjana Markovic, his ascendance up the Communist Party ladder, his dictatorship and a milestone of his fall, October 7, 2000 (the 1999 Serbian edition has been updated for the English). Peppered with damning testimonies of both, this impassioned, well-wrought portrait deftly evinces Yugoslav outrage and bereavement. Trans. by Alex Dubinsky. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Djukic, a Serbian journalist victimized by the Milosevic regime, here assesses his subject's political career. Although the book is similar in scope to Dusko Doder and Louise Branson's Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant (LJ 1/00), Djukic adds important details about the "kleptocracy" that governed Yugoslavia, Milosevic's relations with the Bosnian Serb leadership, and the political destruction of his opponents. Mirjana Markovic emerges as an utterly bizarre yet consistently influential figure in her husband's rise to power. The author is at his best in explaining the catastrophic impact of Milosevic's decisions on Serbia, as well as the West's biased neglect of Serbian civil rights in Kosovo. He is much less convincing in explaining Milosevic's electoral popularity as a consequence of Serbian "gullibility." Also, the book lacks a satisfactory conclusion. Despite these drawbacks, Djukic offers a solid account. Recommended for larger academic and public libraries. Zachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.