“Not the least of the merits of Ann Lane's book is that it brings some much needed balance and sanity into this debate… ” From the Forewords by Christopher Cviic (The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London), and Geoffrey Warner
“A straightforward account of the development
of British policy toward Yugoslavia and its rival claimants
for power during World War II, and toward the victorious communists
before and after the break with the Soviet Union.” Choice
“There is nothing like a dramatic change in contemporary
circumstances to stimulate the rewriting of history. The break-up
of Yugoslavia in 1991 with its ensuing fratricide inevitably
provoked historians into re-examining the origins of Yugoslavia’s
fragility. One aspect of the conflict stood out quite clearly
and arguably exacerbated the tragedy. The great powers watched
helplessly as Muslim, Croat, and Serb reverted to a tribalism
that most observers thought unimaginable in the post-Holocaust
era. Critics variously accused NATO and the United States
of indifference and irresolution. Yet again the ‘settlement’
of the Second World War was being unravelled as the boundaries
were redrawn.
…This exemplarily succinct history of Britain’s involvement
in Yugoslav affairs is a major contribution to our understanding
of the development of the cold war …” The International
History Review
“Sheds substantive light not
only on British policy, but also on the delicate interplay
between the Soviet Union and the US reconstruction in Western
Europe. The volume clarifies much speculation about Tito’s
communist alliances, his break with the Soviet Union, the
support offered to him by the Americans, and the strategic
stability Yugoslavia supplied in a notoriously volatile historical
period.” Book News
