Reviews for Triumph of the Lack of Will: International Diplomacy and the Yugoslav War

The average rating for Triumph of the Lack of Will: International Diplomacy and the Yugoslav War based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-11-11 00:00:00 Carl Austin I received this book from a Goodreads Giveaway, and I am so very glad that I did. I am so glad that Radka Yakimov shared her story with the world. It is my hope that more people will read her story. Yakimov grew up in Bulgaria, a Balkan country, during World War II and the subsequent takeover by the USSR. She dedicates the book to her parents, who, tragically, did not live to see the end of the USSR. She begins with her remembrance of the air raids on Sofia during WWII, and describes it in this way: "It is the picture I have carried in my mind for so many years - a tale I have been relating to anyone willing to listen." Yakimov's memoir is written in a conversational style, as if you were listening to her tell her stories. Her account of her father's disinheritance and his disbarment, both due to the fears of others. Her accounts of her father's optimism is particularly touching: "It is going to end soon [the USSR]! There is no doubt!" Yakimov started to keep a diary in 1952, which was a great source of comfort to her. I found intriguing her descriptions of her community's fascinating with Western politics and products such as Coca-Cola, which propaganda urged them to believe was a strong alcoholic drink. Yakimov grew up in a society fueled by fear. Shame and judgment ran rampant. Yakimov's experiences will evoke an emotional response in any reader who cannot help to feel the pain, fear, and anxiety she experienced, as well as, as times, the joy and happiness of childhood.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-11-24 00:00:00 James Kay This is a solid intro for anyone who has even a passing sympathetic interest in the only (other) group of people that are hated as much as the Jews. Crowe gives a systematic re-tracing of how the Roma-I tend to avoid using the word "Gypsy" since it has too much "Hate-story" attached to it-came to be "here". In Europe,America,... and our heads.As they are...except they're not. Bothering to actually find out how "History/Hate-story" came to be written, one finds a rather remarkable timeline covering hundreds of years and many diffrent "nations". The one thing uniting all of these places is,of course,their treatment of the aforementioned "ethnics". Except that it was not always like this; at their earliest time of recorded "appearance", the Roma were,at least in some places, highly prized for their skills in metal-work,music and various other occupations. It did appear to me that with the event of "modernity" (i.e. mass-prodution,mass-society),Romany individuality became an "undesirable" quality...together with their refusal to be "tied down" to a prescribed form of making a living. The book also covers what happened to the Roma after the collapse of Communism,but the author does have a tendency to end many chapters with the same phrases and no concrete ideas of what could be done to change their situation. But I may be a bit harsh here,Crowe is more of a historian than an activist,and there are of course no "quick-fixes" available for these "group/s" of people who have suffered centuries of very "institutionalized" racism/xenophobia. Reading this book,I came to realize that Europe has it's very own "Slavery issues" to deal with,and unlike the US,we have not yet organized a civil-rights based movement that takes up the battle for "Roma Rights/Equality". Maybe reading this book will help people to understand that what most regard as "deviant" behaviour is really often just a sign of deeply traumatized men and women who have been robbed of their past, and are in danger of being deprived of a future. This book should be widely read,prefably starting in schools...the earlier one learns of what has been done to the Roma the better. I highly recommend this,it is hopefully going to change any readers perceptions/ideas/pre-conceived notions about "Gypsies".