A Muslim woman in Tito's Yugoslavia /

Munevera Hadzisehovic has lived through war and revolution, and her own life has exemplified the overwhelming transition brought about as much by modernization as communist social policy. Born into a deeply religious, artisanal Muslim family in Bosnia, she received a higher education, joined the Communist Party, and worked for many years as a physical chemist at a nuclear research facility. She never married, but did bear and raise a son. Her autobiography should be a fascinating account of human and social change. Unfortunately, it is not. The book is unstructured and disorganized and is full of names of families and individuals unknown to most readers. She provides almost no insight into her responses to the developments she experienced. The style is flat throughout, though this reviewer does not have the knowledge to determine whether this is the fault of the author or the translators. There is a good deal here of interest to readers already well-informed about the history of former Yugoslavia; the book provides a rare glimpse of Bosnian Muslims from within their society. Less prepared readers will not find it very useful. ^BSumming Up: Optional. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. Zimmerman University of Pittsburgh