There's a really good BBC series on YouTube called "Death Of A Nation"

[hatrack]

It's six one-hour episodes covering the destruction of Yugoslavia. Call me crazy, but that topic seems a bit . . . topical these days.

And the title of the first episode?

"Enter Nationalism".

Anyway, if you've got the time, it's well worth watching.

[Mike 03]

1. Highly recomended!

It's absolutely fantastic. Just in the first part you can see how easy it is for a power-hungry (not even charismatic) nationalistic charlatan to infuriate a restless population with a pack of lies that incite them to, within a few weeks, kill their neighbors.

It's based on the 1997 book of the same name by Laura Silber and Adam Little. That book is still in print (or at least available).

[hatrack]

2. Haven't read that, but working my way through "The Serbs" by Tim Judah

Its subtitle is "History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia".

And yes, nationalistic bullshit and 600-year-old grievances were more than enough to inspire one group of people, secure in the knowledge of their special place in God's Wondrous Plan, to participate in full-on genocide and destroy their own country in the process.

All it took was a a few soulless, power-hungry assholes at the right time and in the right place.

[Jim__]

3. I just watched the first episode. Very interesting.

I'll have to watch the rest of them. At that time, I was working with a man who grew up in Yugoslavia. He was extremely worried about his family members that were still there.