Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II

by David Rohde

Book Overview

In Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica: Europe's Worst Massacre Since World War II, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Rohde follows the experiences of seven central characters -- three... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813335337
• ISBN13: 9780813335339
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Journalism In The Cause Of Humanity

Thank goodness David Rohde and his Pakistani colleague Tahir Ludin escaped from the Taliban in late June 2009. Rohde is decidedly Old School as a reporter: instead of surfing the Net at his desk, he actually goes out, usually to very dangerous places, and uncovers facts (bodies too) to publicize some of the worst contemporary conflicts. This sad, scathing but absolutely necessary book cannot be called enjoyable, but it is very worthwhile. It lacks the immediacy of his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1990s reportage from Bosnia, but the Srebrenica tragedy is recreated in riveting fashion, and its horrors unfortunately remain both timely and timeless. Warning; it's both angering and depressing but capable of stirring action too. Here is one of the Good Guys, who repeatedly puts himself in the line of fire in the service of humanity. We're thankful you're safe and sound; keep up the good work. Now go get that next story!

A great book about the TRUTH

If some of you have read most of the reviews of this book listed in this web site, you would have noticed that there is one particular review from a Serb girl who claims this book is full of lies and that the real victims are the Serbs. This is truly a sad fact. Seven years after these horrors took place, there is still a large Serb population that believes that none of this ever happened. In many ways, it would be similar to have Germans believe that the Nazy holocaust never took place right after WW II ended. But the facts are the facts. 7079 men are still missing, and this book does a wonderful job at explaing why that is. I also found intersresting than my views on the Dutch Bat have changed somewhat. They have been protrait often as cowards and racists when in reality they were just soldiers sent on a sucide mission and managed by the most incompetent handful of burocrats of the last century. I truly felt sorry for the Dutch soldiers and it makes me wonder what would have happened if the UN would have done what it supposed to and defended the civilians they had promised to protect. This is a book everyone must read. I have. Three times.

Here is your answer.

This book should be required reading, especially for those who are unable to comprehend why America is still maintaining a presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, six years later. The book does not deny that atrocities were committed on all sides of the Bosnian conflict. It simply relives the horror of genocide perpetrated on a single city by a power-hungry dictator and his military leader, both wanted for war crimes against humanity. As an American who lived in Bosnia for over a year, I have spoken with survivors on both sides of the war, and Rohde's story rings true. While there are critics of his account, the genocide of Srebrenica can be denied no more than can the Holocaust; 7,000 men do not simply disappear and mass graves do not lie. Rohde does a wonderful job re-telling the cruel truth of that city's fall, as well as exploring the failure of the leaders of the international community in fulfilling obligations to the victims while covering their own political hides and again turning a cowardly eye to blatant genocide in Europe. A great book, one that I intend to keep and share with others who blindly ask "Why should WE be in Bosnia?" Here is your answer.

The Face of Evil

This is a well-written, journalistic account of the fall of the Srebrenica safe haven in Bosnia in July 1995. The story is told from many viewpoints, including Bosniacs, Serbs and Dutch UN troops. The Dutch battalion looks criminally negligent in its inability to stop a Serb force that barely exceeded four tanks, 200 infantry and a few mortars, from overrunning the town. Serb and Bosniac tactical abilities also appear sloppy; Serbs fought a 9 to 5 war and then went home and got drunk. The UN sat on its hands and did as little as possible. The maps in this book are excellent. The only weakness of Rohde's account is a certain ignorance of military affairs, which impacts upon the portayal of Serb and Dutch relative capabilities. Once the town falls, the face of evil struts onto David Rohde's stage in the form of General Ratko Mladic, who lies to the press while ordering the massacre of hundreds of prisoners. While the exact total number of Muslims who died as a result of the fall of Srebrenica remains uncertain, Rohde does yeoman work in piecing together the final moments of hundreds of the victims. If anyone cannot undertsand why Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are indicted war criminals, read this book.

Powerful and moving, well researched and documented book

Brilliantly written and meticulously documented, with extensive notes about the sources, this book reads in one go and rewards the reader with a 'multi-dimensional' picture of the horrible events in Srebrenica providing also a social and political frame that will bring closer and elucidate the complexity of the war in the former Yugoslavia. Real-life characters are described vividly, one gains impressions about their character, reasoning and motivation. For one of the episodes mentioned in the book, that took place in Zagreb, I have a first-hand experience and was amazed how accurate and live Rohde's descriptions were. Srebrenica is a tragedy for the Dutch as well and as a foreigner living in the Netherlands I am glad that the role of the Dutch UN contingent was also documented with all their limitations and frustrations from acting within the framework of the United Nations. The truth is never "in black & white" and this book provides a number of colors and nuances in-between that will help you understand not only the tragedy of Bosnian war but a tragedy of ignorance mixed with indifference that was spreading like a cancer through the West, and elsewhere, with a shallow notion that all this was happening 'light-years' away in some far away, forgotten country, whereas in actuality it was all only couple of hours on a flight from world metropolis.Several maps included in the book will help you follow the ten-day period and progression of the events this book describes. One of the protagonists, Drazen Erdemovic, was in the meantime sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Browsing through some of the (public) court documents on ICTY's web site provides a good opportunity if you're looking to expand your knowledge of the subject, especially since another Srebrenica protagonist - R. Krstic, a Bosnian Serb army officer promoted to the rank of general in June 1995, who commanded the units of the Drina Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) that shelled Srebrenica and attacked the UN observation posts - is currently on trial.