Hey Simon, you sad: ''Firstly, since almost all of the stories are only a few pages long most of them are simply sketches and don't have the space to fill out the background or characters. '' That is the point of this book. War always comes suddenly, lasts short, and leave behind almost nothing - and all this for nothing. In my childhood, I experienced a state of war in my country. This is exactly what you're in your next sentence said: ''...either through lack of knowledge about the history of the Balkans and the war, or maybe even something deeper about the culture of that area.''Probably you will agree with me that it is not necessary to know the culture of the country where the war rages. War with all the people causing the same feeling - one that you felt when you read the book. And you said that you are missing something (if I remember well).
I so understood the point.

But in any case, you wrote a nice review.

Postscript ; Sorry for bad grammar

Would be interested to hear if you agree or disagree, Marko, but as someone who was in university (in Ireland) through the bulk of the war I found Mischa Glenny's book "The Fall of Yugoslavia" to be fascinating reading. The speed with which the logic of "my enemy's enemy" caused alliances to pivot is just breathtaking. Pen pictures are well and good but getting a good insight into what actually happened is more valuable IMHO. I did not understand what was truly happening from the evening news in the 90s - it was just too complex to convey.