Heavenly Serbia: From Myth to Genocide

by Branimir Anzulović

Book Overview

Traces Serbia's nationalist and expansionist impulses to the legendary battle of Kosovo in 1389

As violence and turmoil continue to define the former Yugoslavia, basic questions remain unanswered: What are the forces behind the Serbian expansionist drive that has brought death and destruction to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo? How did the Serbs rationalize, and rally support for, this genocidal activity?

Heavenly...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814706711
• ISBN13: 9780814706718
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Why genocide happens?

Anzulovic's Heavenly Serbia is a great resource for students of the Balkans and the Yugoslav wars. It is also a good read for those with a general interest in the Balkans. The book is well written and well researched. Strengths Anzulovic sets out to explain how the myth of Heavenly Serbia has set the stage for the genocidal wars of the 1990s. He manages to do that very well in this book. He uses historical documents to prove that the myth was initially not a popular myth at all, but a church version of what had happened at the Battle of Kosovo in 1989. Further, he shows how the narrative spread among the population through the singing bards. Then, Anzulovic explains how the myth was used in the 19th and 20th centuries to justify Serbian megalomaniac ambitions. An, intriguing part of the book is the section where the author talks about how international circles had accepted the myth thus giving legitimacy to both the Serbian territorial ambitions and the genocidal campaigns. Weaknesses One weakness of the book is that Anzulovic often becomes repetitive. Also, one could argue that the author draws from too few sources when trying to prove his hypothesis. He relies a lot on Njegos's The Mountain Wreath to argue that the idea of eliminating entire ethnic groups to create a compact Serbian state was accepted widely. However, the content of one Serbian book is not as significant as the popularity of that book,. And, Anzulovic mentions the popularity of this and other similar books (Noz) to argue that the Serbian intellectuals were in fact promoting the myth Serbian victimization and calling for `revenge.' In conclusion, Heavenly Serbia is an indispensable book for those who seek to understand the wars of 1990s in the Balkans. And, not only those but, also, previous wars of the 19th and 20th century in the Balkans which in fact were prequels to the 1990s, as this book implies.

Debunking Myths

Branimir Anzulovic successfully debunks the myths perpetuated in the name of war, uncovering the mindset of those who seek to dominate their neighbours through force and aggression. Well documented and researched, Anzulovic's book unabashedly exclaims: the emperor wears no clothes. Like Noel Malcolm's "Kosovo," "Heavenly Serbia: From Myth to Genocide" questions the rationalizations of an expansionistic people.

Superb Scholarly Work

As a friend and neighbor of Serbs, I was intrigued to learn this aspect of Serbian history.I congratulate Dr. Anzulovic on his exhaustive research and well thought out unbiased analaysis on how an elite can manipulate history and folklore. Basicaly innocent peeople like my friends and neighbors were manipulated to commit unspeakable crimes. This is requared reading to see how an honest and noble people can be deceived to barbareous levels.

This book is ten years too late.

The book leads to the following conclusion: the West has nursed thismonstruous baby for far too long. Virtual history is followed by manufactured events followed by self-deceipt. After Kosovo, Serbs have for 200 years helped the Turks in the warsagainst the Christian West. Their churchprospered. That was the beginning.Where are all the mosques that the Turksbuilt in the vicinity of Belgrade?Njegos advocated genocide as nationalredemption. He was the bishop!The book would need a summary of the main groupings of distortions which theSerbs spread about themselves.Nato at the time of this writing seemsto have come to terms with this folk.

The historical routes of Serbian agression

This book explains the historical myths that have fueled Serbian aggression over the last several years. Anzulovic has done a prodigious amount of research, and the result is a hugely important-- if sometimes slightly dry in tone--book. A fascinating look at how governments and peoples use national myths to justify atrocious behavior.