With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia

by Åsne Seierstad, Sindre Kartvedt (Translator)

From beloved international reporter Ã...ne Seierstad comes a remarkable exploration of the lives of ordinary Serbs under the regime of Slobodan Milosevic-during the dramatic events leading up to his fall, and finally in the troubled years that have followed. Seierstad traveled extensively through Serbia between 1999 and 2004, following the lives of people from across the political spectrum. Her moving and perceptive account follows nationalists, Titoists, Yugonostalgics, rock stars, fugitives, and poets. Seierstad brings her acclaimed attention to detail to bear on the lives of those whom she encounters in With Their Backs to the World , as she creates a kaleidoscopic portrait of a nation made up of so many different-and often conflicting-hopes, dreams, and points of view.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel, Politics, War, Journalism, Biography

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Åsne Seierstad is a Norwegian freelance journalist and writer, best known for her accounts of everyday life in war zones – most notably Kabul after 2001, Baghdad in 2002 and the ruined Grozny in 2006.
She has received numerous awards for her journalism and has reported from such war-torn regions as Chechnya, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
She is fluent in five languages and lives in Norway.

Reviews

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asne Seierstad is no stranger to war zones.Having previously reported from Kabul and Baghdad,this time she goes to war ravaged Serbia,after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic,the man who brought much suffering to the region,first in the shape of the Bosnian war,and later for his own people,through the NATO invasion.

Serbia had undergone a great deal of international approbium and ostracization.
She talks to Serbs,looks at them as human beings, and describes the hardships endured by them,principally due to the policies of one man,Milosevic.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Asne Seierstad draws portraits of the people of Slobodan Milošević’s Serbia. His wars have brought loss, a diminished national status and a ruined economy. She shows how the people live and through their words she conveys their thoughts. For many the author makes a visit after Milosevic’s downfall and describes how life has changed for them.

The first portrait is of an elderly farmer. He supports Milosevic, but holds his highest esteem for Tito. What is more interesting about him: his livestock, his day, his cheese recipe, the “décor” of his simply furnished home and his information gap. In the last chapter, you enter the life of a rock star who is widely known in the region. (I later enjoyed him on You Tube - check out Rambo Amadeus). By the time you get here, you can fully appreciate his life and opinions.

In between the farmer and the rock star the portraits are similarly diverse: an opposition journalist; the wife of a convicted and imprisoned war criminal; a refugee family from Kosovo; a family with two generations of Orthodox priests; the mayor of Nis who became Prime Minister; a street-smart entrepreneur, a student activist; a novelist; a theater manager who enjoys patronage of the Milosevic family and more.

I wonder how Seierstad was able to find such a diverse group and, with a language and culture gap, how she got so many people to open up to her. Maybe each story is as unique as the way she how got the rock star to go on the record with her (and he with her – pun intended – she had to record in Norwegian, he dubbed himself in for a duet and the song became a hit in the region).

While I highly recommend this as a book, the 2004 ending, begs an update. After Milosevic, the economy worsens and Serbians are viewed, outside the country, as pariahs. Perhaps, the world is ignoring Serbia these days. I looked for something on life in contemporary Serbia, and other than novels relating to the atrocities, came up dry.

[Uroš Đurković]

Ko se bavi istorijom medijske slike Balkana treba da baci pogled na ovu knjigu, ne toliko zbog književnog uspeha, koliko zbog pokušaja predstavljanja pogleda 'omraženog drugog'. Neko iz Srbije bi, na primer, mogao bolje da shvati kako pojedini kolektivni stavovi odjekuju na zapadu, dok bi neko sa zapada mogao da stekne uvid u živu i raznoliku sredinu, koja, premda teško da može glavu staviti iznad vode, nekako i dalje pliva. Ipak, nužnost ovakvih knjiga i ovakvih istraživačkih poduhvata, jer je autorka bila u više navrata u Srbiji tokom prelomnih trenutaka (bombardovanje, 5. oktobar, ubistvo Đinđića), je to da, uslovno rečeno, domaći čitalac, nikad neće imati isti pogled i isto podrazumevano znanje, kao neko ko je autsajder. Bez obzira na to, nije nekorisno pokušati zauzeti poziciju drugog, kojom bi se predupredili nesporazumi.

Gledano iz današnje perspektive, ponešto iz ove knjige je začuđujuće aktuelno, dok je nešto drugo, hvala nebesima, prevaziđeno. Odabir ljudi je zanimljiv: od plahovitog Ljubiše Ristića, preko mladog Branka Đurića, koji mašta o tome da bude ministar spoljnih poslova, do Ramba Amadeusa, koji je izdejstvovao da snimi pesmu sa Osne (koga zanima, pesma se zove Laganese). Uz to, posebno su zanimljivi razgovori sa malim ljudima, van javne sfere: popom, dedom, studentima, kao i pokušaji da se nekome sa strane objasne za nas opštepoznati običaji i okolnosti.

Međutim, ovo, treba zapaziti, nije nipošto akademska, antropološko-istorijska knjiga, već non-fiction zasnovan na intervjuima pretočenim u prozu, koji bi se mogli podvesti pod žanr pisanja o katastrofama. Otuda ne čudi da su, nakon knjige o Srbiji, usledile i knjige o Avganistanu, Iraku, Čečeniji, masakru u Norveškoj i Siriji. To što je ton i pristup pre svega novinarski, pa tek onda proučavalački i književni, ne znači da to što Osne radi treba odbaciti, već da se gleda u okvirima u kojima sama stvara. To je jedna od najvažnijih stvari u praksi tumačenja, koja se začuđujuće retko spominje: treba razumeti format nekog medija da se on u interpretaciji ne bi izneverio. Ako se izgubi kod, nastaje šum. Zbog toga ukoliko neko vikne na autorku zbog pristrasnosti i ličnih obojenosti, neće biti u krivu, međutim, ako čitamo samo i isključivo ono sa čim se slažemo, što nam je blisko i što nam ide niz dlaku, ovaj svet bi se sunovratio još više nego što jeste.

Čitao sam engleski prevod. Bilo bi zanimljivo videti koje su izmene u srpskom prevodu. Jedna se vidi već u naslovu, koji upravo pokazuje stav: Leđima okrenuti svetu: portreti iz Srbije. Srpski prevod ima samo podnaslov.

[Sean-Paul Kosina · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘If you fail at everything else in life
At least try to live honestly.’
-Serbian Proverb

[Gill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains a series of portraits of people in Serbia, collected over three visits between 1999 and 2004. The protagonists including an elderly farming countryman, a priest, an emigree and a rock star. It paints a sad picture of a nation living on past possibly fictional glories, floundering after the loss of strong leadership, and unable to get over the recent atrocities to start rebuilding a healthy society.

I happened to hear a short news excerpt yesterday about the fact that Belgium has had no elected government for 9 months and is just coping fine. It makes me wonder if we would all do better without centralised political controls.

So much of what Serbia is finding impossible is the result of political interference of the British and Americans during WW2, of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the Ottoman empire, all of which carved up the Balkan states in totally arbitrary ways to conquer and divide its peoples. Movement of different ethnic groups, different religious factions etc. have made this a knot that defies any attempt to unravel it and allow the area to move forward constructively. I wish there had been some light at the end of the tunnel, but I saw none in this book's pages. I was left with the heart-rending cries of one Serb who had made a new life in Germany, but had to put her desire to return home, and any mention of her nationality in her new home, to one side.

One gets no clear picture of how the interviews were conducted, and how much knowledge of the language the author had, nor is there more than a very scant idea of the situation in general terms apart from 7 pages at the beginning of the book.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed "meeting" all of the diverse people in Seirstad's book. One interview in particular gave me pause: An older couple tells Seirstad that they understand all about the political situation in their country because they've heard about it on TV (Milosevic-controlled TV). It made me think even more about how much our news here is filtered and spun. Who knows what's really happening?

[Signe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book that has sat on my shelf for years waiting to be read. This is a fairly interesting portraiture of a range of Serbian people, some more interesting than others. It's good she picks up on the struggle to leave behind a known political system and the struggle it takes for people to shift to something new and unknown within their generation. Communism, while many found it to be stabilizing economically and socially, also did a lot damage to the area. Once Tito fell the lid came off the bubbling cauldron and basically all the old tensions boiled over.

One definitely gets the idea of the mix of attitudes and the political chaos of the Serbs after decades, even centuries of turmoil.

One thing that stood out to this reader is that Åsne Seierstad, the journalist, fails to grasp is that St Sava is not the "founder" of the church in Serbia. St Sava was the first Archbishop of Serbia after the Orthodox Church there was granted autocephaly by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Autocephaly means they are in full communion with the rest of the Orthodox Church but have their own bishop to oversee their own affairs. The "leader" of the Orthodox Church of Serbia who she refers to was actually Patriarch Pavle, widely known to be a holy man having presided over the church through many difficult periods. That is an important thing to point out, that Serbia is definitely part of a greater community of Orthodox Christians around the world, and the Orthodox Church itself has Apostolic succession, meaning that all the lines of Bishops can be trace back to the Apostles. The Orthodox Church is the Catholic Church, now only identified as "Orthodox" due to Charlemagne and the rise of the Papacy in the West causing a schism. The West excommunicated the East for not accepting the power play of the Pope of Western Rome. The original Catholic Church sat in Ecumenical Councils to decide matters in the Church. No one man governed or could change the faith as the western Pope did beginning with the insertion of the filioque into the Nicea-Constantinopolitan Creed. He changed the understanding of the nature of God and went on his own way. The schism is dated to about 1054 AD. This history is the basis of the rift between Roman Catholics and Orthodox even today in the region. The issues were compounded during WWII when the Croation Roman Catholics sided with the Nazis and ran death camps like Jasenovac, said to sicken even seasoned Nazi death camp officials with their brutality and barbarism.

What might have been a helpful quote to her book is one from St Sava himself:

At first we were confused. The East thought that we were West, while the West considered us to be East. Some of us misunderstood our place in the clash of currents, so they cried that we belong to neither side, and others that we belong exclusively to one side or the other. But I tell you, Ireneus, we are doomed by fate to be the East in the West and the West in the East, to acknowledge only heavenly Jerusalem beyond us, and here on earth—no one

—St. Sava to Ireneus, 13th century

Also, she errs when she says that "priests must be married". Priests are not required to marry, but if they are to marry they must do so before ordination. It wouldn't do to have priests chasing around after women, would it?

Her irritation with some Serbs continually asking her about her marital status is part of Serbian culture. You are either married or monastic.

The journalist here also seems to carry her own agenda as judge of Serbian fault in wars. I am not convinced that Serbia is all to blame. There were atrocities on all sides. War is hideous. What many of the Serbs say and later bombings bear out, that Slavic Muslims, who were not radicalized by Islam in the early 90s, where soon joined by the mujahadeen who brought their very specific form of atrocities to play in the wars of the 90s--especially their propensity for beheading their victims and filming themselves doing so. The US hijacking of NATO in the region with the ensuing crushing of the Serbs allowed radical Islam to create a backdoor to Europe. If the journalist followed the dots she would see that afterward the bombing in Madrid, etc started taking place in Europe.

The takeaway for the US diplomats and politicians should be that bombing people into submission followed by cruel withholding of basic goods and trade through sanctions is not a good way to win hearts and minds and clean up corruption. I can understand why many in the region would be angry at the US. Sorry for the pun, but it isn't rocket science. It is a difficult region to understand even for people living there, but not difficult to understand that invasion and occupation of Serbia by the Ottomans was a horrible experience. The Muslims native to the region are Slavs like the rest of the people in the area, its just that many were converted by the sword or by stealing children and raising them to be Muslim. The journalist might want to study up on the actual history of the region before passing judgment.

This reader didn't pick up on a ton of "compassion" from the journalist, but rather a subtle disdain for most of the subjects of her book. It's true Serbs can be difficult to understand and difficult people to deal with in general, but at the core they are like the rest of people in the world who have struggled for national identity and sovereignty. The same people who started WWI are the same people who produced Nikola Tesla, son of an Orthodox priest, who completely changed the modern world with his brilliant use of AC electricity and whose methods were greater than Edison's. They have been through a lot, it is clear from spending any small amount of time with them.

[Viv JM · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book is a collection of portraits of Serbians around the time of the fall of Milosevic. Seierstad's skill lies in the fact that she seems to have been able to draw people from all sides of the political spectrum to talk to her and this is a fascinating, if rather sad, look at the Serbia of the early 2000s.

This is very much a journalist's book, rather than a historian's and, although it was an interesting slice of life, I am not sure I am much closer to a real understanding of how and why the war in the Balkans took place. I feel like I would have liked to go deeper so maybe I need to seek out something a bit more in depth to fill the gaps in my knowledge. Suggestions welcome!

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia was the only one of Norwegian author Asne Seierstad's works of extended journalism which I had outstanding. I have found her work insightful and far-reaching in the past, and I admire the way in which she tries to present as many viewpoints as she possibly can. The real triumph for me is Seierstad's newest publication, One of Us, which deals with Anders Breivik, who carried out atrocious terror attacks in Norway in 2011. I felt that it would be a nice change to include a work of non-fiction in my Reading the World Project, as I have certainly gravitated more towards works of fiction thus far.

In her second book, With Their Backs to the World, Seierstad details 'the lives of ordinary Serbs - under Milosevic, during the dramatic events leading up to his fall and finally in the troubled years that have followed'. She follows those who fall across the entire political spectrum, from three visits which she made between 1999 and 2004. After broadcasting about the Kosovan conflict in 1999 for NRK (Norway's Broadcasting Corporation), she 'couldn't stop wondering about the Serbs, these outcasts of Europe. This people that started one war after the other, and lost them all'.

In her research for With Their Backs to the World, Seierstad found that many people were reluctant to speak to her, accusing her of wanting to have her supposed 'prejudices confirmed', or saying that they could not formulate an understanding of what was happening even between themselves. She eventually discovered thirteen individuals who were happy to speak to her, as well as one family, and interviewed them between the winter of 1999 and the spring of 2000. Of her subjects, she writes: 'These people together made up a picture, a mosaic of sorts'.

Translated from its original Norwegian by Sindre Kartvedt, With Their Backs to the World is quite often culturally fascinating. Serbia is not anywhere that I've travelled to to date, but I would be interested to, particularly after understanding more of its turbulent history, and the way in which it is rising from the ashes. With Their Backs to the World, in this sense, is both historically and culturally important. The dialogue, however, is rather clumsy in places; whether this is a translation issue I am unsure, but some of the phrases simply did not sound right to my English ears.

One reviewer on Goodreads has commented that With Their Backs to the World focused on individual experiences at the expense of the wider picture. I am of this opinion to an extent; Seierstad here seems to have veered toward looking at the effect rather than the cause. The background of Serbia and its recent conflicts is covered in the introduction, but later information is not always detailed, which surprised me; I had, up until now, viewed Seierstad as a more meticulous journalist than she comes across here. With Their Backs to the World was certainly more character driven than I was expecting, and the balance between characters and historical and geographical background does not sit quite right.

With Their Backs to the World is an interesting book in many ways, but I do not feel as though it is Seierstad's strongest. A slight niggle for me was that no information was included as to how the participants had been selected, and the practical details about the interviews - how were they conducted, how often, and in what language? With Their Backs to the World was not as engrossing as I was expecting; indeed, it was a little disappointing in this respect. There also seemed to be a real lack of emotion, which felt odd in the context of the whole.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of The Bookseller of Kabul writes another story about an part of the world that has been consumed by war, Serbia. This time she reveals the Serbs “personality” after the wars in the 1990s. I think her portraits are honest and true but the book doesn’t grab the reader’s attention like her previous book had, because she is writing about the instigators of war instead of the victims. Serbia is facing accusations of war crimes and a horrible dictator while the people approve of having a dictator and want the territory they lost back. Kosovo is their biggest obsession and several of the author’s subjects are refugees from there and still dealing with the loss of of their homes and belongings. The author’s biggest problem is her subjects might be hospitable to her, they have a collective loathsome tendency to hate Muslims, Albanians and others who aren’t Serbs. This is explained quite well by someone who tells Asne that in Yugoslavia and after, the Serbs tended to control government and civil service. This put them in a situation where they forced other groups to pay bribes to get things done and live off others’ work. I don’t think the Serbs’ reputation has been improved in 2019, but I don’t hear about them often. I hope they are more like able now.

[Hans Brienesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book in it's concept, before and after. Exploring people's lives both under Milosevic and some years after his fall a recurring theme is evident; as a nation the Serbs are ordinary people trying to survive but locked into a system of "backward looking." Things were better....under Milosevic,....before Milosevic, .......a hundred years ago, ........after Milosevic. The Serbs interviewed seem to have an ingrained idea of all the injustices borne only by the Serb people. A book perhaps to be read in only a couple of sittings to totally immerse oneself in the Serbian psyche.

[TheSeventh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a croatian national, I could understand the social aspect of characters as many of them would perfectly fit into society in Croatia. I can only wonder what would this people have to say today, with some big changes that happen since the book was written.

[Liz Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

This non-fiction book about Serbia between 1999 and 2004 was quite insightful. The writer has a way of bringing this dark time to the reader by interviewing and spending time with everyday Serbians right before, and after, the fall of Milosevic and after the Balkan wars of the 90's. For those not too familiar with the atrocities of those wars, you might get a bit confused and may have to Google some of it. But I found that so many Serbs just loved the dictator even after he was tried in The Hague for war crimes and genocide. My favorite word I learned was Yugonostalgics, those who still loved and admired Tito. Granted, if I had had a choice, I would have preferred to live under him than the psycho Milosevic! Some parts were just laugh out loud funny in an absurdist way.. The book is a bit dated, since it was published in 2005, but still worth the read for the insights of the people who lived and survived it all. Shows how nationalistic many Serbs were at the time and believed in a "Greater" Serbia. I have a feeling, though now it is trying to be a young democracy, that the fervor of nationalism is still there, considering the political times we are living. 3.5 stars.

[Paramita Choudhury · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book has brought out a lot questions in my mind about the separation of Yugoslavia. The one which is most intriguing is "Did the people really want it ?" "Were they happy with it ?"

The writer did an excellent work in putting down the various stories. The different people from different walks of life. She tried to get a holistic view point on the country's politics and how war affected it.

All in all, a book worth reading.

[Len Boselovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty years after the time period it covers, this remains a marvelous, insightful book. It is a painful reminder of what happens when citizens blindly feed on the fear and lies leaders such as Milosevic peddle.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a portrait of about a dozen Serbians as revealed by interviews conducted from 2000-2004. The individuals represent a range of economic, political, professional, educational and generational demographics.

[Alyssa Buchner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and raw insight into Serbian culture with history lined throughout the book.

[Michele Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serbia. True stories of people surviving after the multiple wars - Before and after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic. A political reporter, a student activist, a housewife, a farmer, and many others. It was really interesting to hear from both sides of the regime. I have now read books from all 7 of the countries that used to make up Yugoslavia and it is fascinating how people from each of those countries see their independence differently.

[Keval · Rating 3 out of 5]

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Serbia is a bad country, no thanks to the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. You've heard of Serbian atrocities (e.g. Dubrovnik being attacked, Sarajevo under siege) and the continued rocky relationship the country has with its breakaway region of Kosovo. But how much truth is there really, to such assertions?
To some extent, this book aims to dispel these notions. It follows a number of people before, during and after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic. You are acquainted with people on both sides of the Milosevic regime. Some opinions would surprise the reader, some may prove to be dubious, while a fraction may even reinforce stereotypes. For me, the book served as a step to better understand the Serbian side of the story, which is often buried beneath the dichotomy of "good guy versus bad guy". My only problem was the fact that every story follows the same structure: life before, during and after Milosevic. Perhaps it was a matter of continuity on the part of the author. It could also be a case of introducing some routine, some predictability, to the narrative of a country which, during the said period, was guessing what each new day would bring.

[يوسف زهدى · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book, a master piece portraying Serbs lives before, within and after the Serbs revolution. By presenting different characters, Asne succeeded in presenting a glance about a people whom were shocked in their believes and left clueless against the world...

I used to believe and continue to believe that what Serbs did in Muslims of Bosnia was a crime and a massacre by all means simply Ethnic cleansing, yet, after reading this book I believe that I learned a lot about what people are driven by and how might they react if their leaders turned to be real criminals... unfortunatelymost of them will deny the truth..

Yet, I recommended book about revolution and society acting towards corruption, revolutions and revolutionary people.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I like about Asne books is the lack of judgement.
It's not a history book, it's not about dry facts. It's about people's perception of events, their effects on lives.
The subtitle is 'Portraits from Serbia', not 'The history of Balcan wars'. You can find it in any decent history book. But what you will never find is why people acted the way they were. This book will not provide all answers but only a small view through a cracked door.
What is fascinating is that during the few years nothing really changed. People carried on with their lives without much change to their beliefs and views. It's fascinating but scarry at the same time.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty sceptical about this book to begin with, but I have to say Seierstad does a wonderful job of going beyond the general and theoretical. It is a very depressing book, even more so since I've been to Serbia twice (and Kosovo once) and I feel like I've actually met each of them.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asne explores Serbian views of the conflict in former Yugoslavia, with good reasons, the Serbs think the world is against them.

[Bernadett · Rating 1 out of 5]

as someone who has been living here for 15 years I can confidently say that this person who wrote this book is an asshole.
its a blatant cash grab, dramatizing others misery for her own superior complex, taking advantage of the Serbs famous hospitality even though it was multiple times painfully obvious that she was unwanted and unwelcome, she managed to picture them as backward thinking, moonshine drinking sheep who only chants a collectively delusional love for their acting president.
What she will never understand and what I gathered from her painfully badly written 340 page book is; She has no regard for others mourning, she has no regard for others religion and mocks others beliefs aka the Mary statue myth granting a wish...
She hunts down people who wants nothing to do with her, she drinks excessively and eats the starving nations rations that the hosts have taken away from their own mouth and their own families mouth in a war torn country where people line up in front of grocery stores for rations of basic necessities as sugar , flour and washing powder.
she has no problem eating meat, cheese, deviled eggs (which we btw only eat on red holidays like Easter and Christmas ) in front of the fasting family right before Easter. she snuck into the country with false pretenses of visiting friends , even though it was forbidden for journalists to enter exactly because of this, sensationalization of the national uproar.
she left out the key component of why Serbians hated the Kosovo refugees: the whole picture goes like this... they come here with nothing but a goat strapped to their back, they get a fully furnished house and car and monthly allowance from the government, from the tax payers money, which has still not been replenished and its just temporary patching of worst holes on our bag of blanket over the land. They are uncultured , loud , obnoxious , arrogant, they rip up the flooring and use it as firewood, for which we the tax paying citizens have to save 3 month worth of full paycheck. and they got it for free. of course the people were livid when they only got a expired date flashing Hershey bar within the America care package, meanwhile refugees were taken care of did not work and had no thought of working in their life, and the average Serb should just take it at face value.
we have a bakery owner who is from Kosovo and he never ever ever since I live here for the past 15 years made any effort to integrate into the community, he doesn't even greet anyone outside of his bakery where he has to, because if business.
his bakery is perpetually moldy and not many people buy goods there so its all mist and mirrors as to what he makes his money with...
rounding back to the book, the author has a very petulant degrading undertone and considering how much she stuffed her face and rode around when petrol was a hot commodity in the entire country, I in her place would not have published this garbage.
this book took me solid 2 weeks to read when normally I finish this length off in 4 days- meaning this was a struggle and I have researched everyone in this and the closing "art" is very much like modern art of slapping butter. but altogether the vibe of reading this book was slapping butter modern art.

[Jasmine Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this in 2025, I would have appreciated a detailed introduction that reminded me about what happened in Serbia and the Balkans in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At the time I followed the news but even then I recall a lot of confusion about what was happening. There was a lot of talk of ethnic cleansing and atrocities and war crimes, but (keeping in mind that podcasts had not yet been invented and the internet was brand new -- I first went to an online news site after 9-11) as a regular American going about my daily life I was never really clear on who was killing who. Was it religious or nationalist or something else? At the time I knew who Milosevic was, but more than twenty years later I have to think hard to keep him straight from other post-Soviet strongmen.

I picked this book up because a lot of my friends have been traveling to Serbia and Bosnia recently. When I first heard this I was shocked because I still think of them as war zones. But from what I hear they are currently peaceful, lovely tourist destinations with plenty of history and seaside resorts. So I wanted to know what happened.

This book does not explain the intervening years, but it does provide a really good mosaic of what it is like for regular people living in a country in crisis. The book is bleak -- it follows its subjects from just before the overthrow of dictator Milosevic to a couple of years after. In the middle a lot of people are feeling hopeful for better days, but that hope is gone by the end.

What is hopeful is that now, 25 or so years later, things do seem to have improved .Again, this is not a part of the world that I follow closely, and as I write this there seems to be (yet another) coup happening in Serbia. But the Wikipedia entry, and my friends who have been there recently, describe a country that is, well, pretty lovely.

One thing that caught my eye in the Wikipedia entry is that even though Serbia has joined in condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine, it did not join in sanctions. According to Wikipedia, this is because (as described frequently in With Their Backs to the World), sanctions against Serbia in the 90's (as well as bombing of it) did not help bring down Milosevic's rule, or put an end to any conflicts. It simply made an already suffering population suffer even more. That population experienced the sanctions and bombing as random and made it hate the United States and other countries that participated in it. (I'm not taking a stand against sanctions on Russia, but I do find the Serbian perspective interesting.)

[SadieReadsAgain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read The Bookseller of Kabul a few years ago, and enjoyed it so much that I bought a few more of Seierstad's books, though it’s taken me until now to actually get round to reading one. I really enjoy the way that she immerses herself in the lives and culture of those who she writes about, although this book has a different approach from Bookseller as each chapter follows a different citizen of Serbia. The range of people she befriended and observed includes students, refugees, journalists, politicians and even a Serbian rock star, with varying levels of engagement and from different sides of the political divides. The edition of this book which I read also included all the follow up visits she made since the book was first published. The result is a rich portrait of the lives and beliefs of those who experienced all sides of the conflicts, ideologies and reality of living in such a volatile and uncertain place and time. I’ll be honest and say that I understood little of the region and even less about the Balkan conflicts – I was a young child in the early 90’s and as is pointed out in the book the world had become more focused on other regions in the wake of 9/11 when I was old enough to have a better awareness and interest in the wider world. I watched a few potted history videos on Youtube before reading this book to try and understand it, but even with those and with having read the book, whilst I now understand how complex the issues were I still struggle to understand the issues themselves. That isn’t a criticism of the book at all, but simply a reflection of how layered and multifaceted such issues can be. Seierstad manages to remain fairly impartial even in the face of the most strident characters, although I did enjoy the wit and sly observations that still poke through occasionally. This book was fascinating, and if nothing else confirms for me that in any situation there are never such clear cut distinctions as wrong or right, and that those who suffer most are always those with the least power.

[Leigh Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A snapshot of daily life just before, and just after, the Milosevic era.

If you know anything about the history of the former Yugoslavia, you know it's a hot mess. In fact, it's been that way since the Ottoman empire, so it stands to reason it wouldn't be any less complicated now. I barely understand it myself and it's something I frequently read about. Suffice to say, the history of modern Serbia is dominated by Milosevic and his actions, and haunted by the ghost of Tito.

What does that mean in a boots-on-the-ground way? Old men dig their own graves, because paying someone else to do it is "a waste of money" (a sentiment my own grandfather would have heartily approved). Journalists risk their lives to put out genuine, factual television, as opposed to government propaganda. Priests try to revive the Orthodox church, with mixed results. Politicians try to stay decent and honest, with mixed results. Everybody sings, drinks, and dances. Everybody swears the West is behind their country's troubles (America is to blame for everything, as usual). Nationalism runs rampant, but is often hidden behind charm and folksiness. It's an uneasy, tense place to read about, because while some Serbs are well aware of the damage Milosevic has done, many aren't, and choose to believe instead that they are the injured parties.

Thousands of years of "they started it," beginning with the Ottoman invasion, is hard to break. Some Serbs are trying, some aren't. On a daily level, this means being poor, stubborn, proud, arrogant, religious, rude, hospitable, cheerful, and filled with song. In other words, like everyone else, the Serbs are complex people who are easy to admire in some ways, but difficult to love in others. Not the fresh take on world affairs it was when first published, but worth retaining in your collection for its accurate snapshot of a difficult point in history. Recommended for people who like the fact that world history never has easy answers, and for those whose own roots lead back here.

[Bruno Rodríguez Carapelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"¿No es este un problema global? Los más espabilados hacen negocios, los más inteligentes se conforman con pensar. Los que tienen un poco menos de talento, pero tanta ambición como la gente de negocios, se dedican a la política".

Åsne Seierstad es una autora que siempre me ha encantado. Desde que leí "El Ángel de Grozni" y luego "El Librero de Kabul". Personalmente, "De Espaldas al Mundo" tiene un componente emocional, ya que conocí los Balcanes de punta a punta hace un par de años. Creo que varios conocemos esa sensación de ver o leer sobre lugares en los que estuviste, que recorriste, en los que recolectaste experiencias y emociones. Y eso es exactamente lo que me pasó en cada página de "De Espaldas al Mundo".
La guerra no es fácil. La disolución de un país como Yugoslavia, la limpieza étnica, las odiosidades, el fratricidio, el dibujar fronteras en lugares que antes eran libres, son todos procesos difíciles y traumáticos. ¿Y después de ellos, qué? ¿Qué pasa con la gente común? ¿Qué pasa con quien debe levantarse e ir a trabajar, criar y mantener a sus hijos, y vivir con los recuerdos del conflicto pasado y ya olvidado por los medios de comunicación, que han encontrado guerras cuya cobertura obtiene más puntos de rating? Eso es lo que nos muestra Seierstad en este libro. Qué piensan, cómo viven, qué sueñan, cómo sufren los serbios después de la desmembración de Yugoslavia. Quizás es necesario tener algunos conocimientos previos para disfrutar este libro como corresponde, ya que no se trata de un texto de historia, sino de entrevistas, vivencias e inmersiones en el subjetivismo de los protagonistas.
¿Lo recomiendo? Sí, absolutamente. Y junto con él, también las demás obras de Seierstad.

[Douglas Bowker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Remarkable Journey through a nation adrift

So many aspects of the way the author approached this book stand out as unique, but it's her remarkably evenhanded manner that might stand out the most. Though she always offers fact-check corrections at the conclusion of interviews that need it (and many do) her openness gave her access to nearly all levels of Serbian society, from the very old rural farmer to the restaurant/club owner who became an advisor to Milosevic. In between, she speak to, eats and drinks with, and at one point sings with(!) all takers. It's an odd case where I have to believe that in many instances she'd never have gotten the same access were she a man. Whether she was perceived as less threatening, or perhaps was taken less seriously, time again she was invited into the lives of a dozen of the most disparate personalities one could ever imagine. By the end an effective and powerful tapestry is woven. Highly recommended!

As an American it was strange to recognize so many similarities in the disaffected of Serbian society as one would find here, in the seemingly ever present "foreign oppressor" that many in the book blame for all their troubles. The worship of the so-called "strong leader" has obvious an corollary to our own populism, and going back a bit, especially to the American South and the "glorious Lost Cause" of the Civil War.

[Andrew Clement · Rating 5 out of 5]

A but of context here: I come from a family with some roots in the ex-Yugoslavia (though not Serbian). I found this book fascinating, as it showed me a side of the 1990s conflicts that I had never really understood. The book purports to be a broad cross-section of Serbian society, following a group of people from the time of the 1990s wars going up through the early 2000s. It doesn't disappoint. In many cases, it points out that Serbs really were victims, not only of the conflict but, in the end of their own government's policies and manipulation.
While not delving into the stories of Bosnian or Montenegrin Serbs, one does get a varied picture of the Serbs in general, how they view each other, and how this informs their lamentful self-image as victims, which is often not portrayed in the west. It seems to tie all of the stories together, around this thesis.
As the interviewees struggle with hope despair, and fall both in and out of support with political powers that promise justice and always fail deliver (often post-Tito) you get a portrait of their own self-image as bitter, unwanted sacrificial lambs both to their own nation and to all of Europe. Or, as the book puts it what its like to be a member of 'The people who fought ten wars and lost them all.'