"A very considerable achievement . . . both heart-rending and beautifully judged." -- David Rieff, Los Angeles Times

"Excellent . . . Glenny's audacious theme is that the Balkans are not a freestanding powder keg, but a 'powder trail' laid by the great powers themselves." -- Dusko Doder, The New Republic

"Misha Glenny is the wisest and most reflective of all the Western journalists who have covered this part of Europe in the past two decades . . . this was an enormously ambitious book to undertake, but it is the book which Europe and America need." -- Neal Ascherson, Observer (UK)

"His book covers an amazing amount of historical and geographical ground, ranging from early nineteenth-century Greece to Kosovo the day before yesterday. . . . This is popular history of the Norman Davies school, conceived on a large scale, highly readable, accessible, full of the music of the past. Its great strengths are evocation, fascinating detail and narrative sweep. A great achievement." -- Timothy Garton Ash, Mail on Sunday (UK)

"Above all, the book is justified by the insights which add up to a convincing picture of the problems." -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Sunday Times (London)

"An endeavor which deserves extraordinary admiration and as yet has no rival." -- Jonathan Steele, Guardian (UK)

"Compelling . . . Glenny's book should be required reading for all those wishing to know what has gone wrong with the region." -- Jonathan Eyal, Irish Times