It was the shot that led to World War I and the death of countless millions: the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. This historical account of what happened on that day in June 1914 is every bit as gripping as The Day of the Jackal. Focusing on the man behind the killing, and using newly available sources (including the few surviving witnesses), David James Smith brilliantly reinvestigates and reconstructs the events that determined the shape of the twentieth century.
- An exciting non-fiction account that reads like a popular thriller
David James Smith is the author of six acclaimed non-fiction books and is an award-wining journalist for The Sunday Times Magazine of London. His latest book LET US PREY - A TRUE STORY OF MURDER AND DECEPTION is an Audible Original, available exclusively on Audible read by the author. It is an account of the Maids Moreton case. His first book, THE SLEEP OF REASON - THE JAMES BULGER CASE is in a new edition from Faber (2017) and remains the definitive account of the 1993 murder of a child by two ten year old boys. David has a close interest in criminal justice and served five years (2013-2018) as a Commissioner at The Criminal Cases Review Commission, appointed by HM The Queen to oversee investigations into miscarriages of justice. He was a local newspaper reporter and wrote for the monthly magazine Esquire before joining The Sunday Times Magazine, for whom he travelled around the world writing cover stories, investigative articles, reportage and profiles. It was an article for the Magazine that led to his second book, ALL ABOUT JILL: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JILL DANDO, which was published by Little Brown in 2002. Barry George was convicted and later acquitted of the infamous 1999 shooting of the television presenter on the doorstep of her London home. SUPPER WITH THE CRIPPENS, about the notorious Edwardian crime was published by Orion in 2005 and is currently in development as a drama series for television. ONE MORNING IN SARAJEVO made a gripping non-fiction thriller out of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June, 1914: it was published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in 2008. YOUNG MANDELA is the story of the early life of the iconic South African activist and leader who died in 2013. The biography was published in 2010 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK and Little Brown in the US. David’s research involved interviews with most of Mandela’s close family and comrades, including Winnie Madikezela-Mandela, and culminated in a meeting with Nelson Mandela himself.
Full disclosure: I have a Ph.D. in Balkan History. Had I not marked up the book's margins with comments on the numerous errors, I would have sent it back to Amazon and demanded a refund.
This book essentially glorifies a group of terrorists intent on carrying out a suicide mission, and is reminiscent of the communist-era Yugoslav hagiographies of the conspirators. As such, it is the equivalent of writing a positive account of the terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center on 9/11. The author spends scant time on the victims, portraying the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife and mother of three, Sophie, as at best, unsympathetic cardboard caricatures, which borders on the insulting.
Smith's portrayal of Franz Ferdinand's politics is at best confused, at worst wrong, and muddies the waters about the assassination. The Black Hand wanted Franz Ferdinand dead because he favored changing the Habsburg Monarchy from a two-way division (among the Austrians and Hungarians) into a three-way division that would include the South Slavs (Croats, Serbs, Slovenes), as well as the Empire's other Slavs (Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ruthenes, etc.). Contrary to Smith's false claim that such a division would have favored the Croats, in pure numerical terms it would have favored the Serbs in the Empire, along with all the other Slavs, Croats included. The Black Hand feared that if the Slavs were given equal status, it would present an insurmountable obstacle to their territorial ambitions for a Greater Serbia as laid out under Ilija Garasanin's 1844 "Načertanije". This Greater Serbia, as laid out by Garasanin, would have included today's Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Montenegro, as well as parts of what were then called "southern Hungary" but are today part of Serbia (Vojvodina). And it was indeed the desire for a Greater Serbia that motivated Apis, along with the three trained terrorists he sent into Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Princip, Grabez, and Čabrinović.
Even though Serbia's government did not want war with Austria-Hungary, much less any incident, the Sarajevo Assassination was planned, financed, and given logistical support by renegade parallel security structures within Serbia, under the leadership of the Serbian Army General Staff's Chief of Intelligence, Dragutin Dimitrijević "Apis". The act was one of terrorism, and the conspirators viewed themselves as terrorists, a 1914 version of suicide bombers, thus their plans to commit suicide via cyanide. They admitted this in the court proceedings. At least three of the conspirators were trained in camps in Serbia established by the Serbian Army or Black Hand supporters.
Smith appears to rely largely on recycled material already available in English, in particular from Joachim Remak's flawed "Sarajevo: The Story of a Political Murder", Luigi Albertini's "The Origins of the War of 1914", and Vladimir Dedijer's "The Road to Sarajevo". Much of the same information can be found on Wikipedia. [...] You can save money by going to Wikipedia and typing "Sarajevo Assassination".
Smith's almost exclusive reliance on secondary source materials means that mistakes from earlier works are transmitted verbatim. One example: comparing the origins of the Unification or Death seal to the Italian Carbonari imagery. Even the most cursory comparison shows that the Carbonari imagery was heavily influenced by Free Masonry, whereas the Unification or Death seal appears to have been sketched by an 8 year old child who had just watched Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean". A simple Google image search will show this. So too, the author - while detailing the Black Hand initiation ceremony -- fails to mention its origins. The marginal correspondence shown to the author by the Čabrinović and Čubrilović families is already known to historians.
Smith clearly failed to consult the rich body of work on the assassination available in the Serbo-Croatian language, including the memoirs of the surviving conspirators and Young Bosnia members, and failed to look at the documents in Serbia's and Bosnia's various archives that paint a far more accurate picture of events.
The book further muddies the waters about the 1916 Thessaloniki trials, implying that Apis falsely admitted his guilt in arranging the assassination via Rade Malobabić in an effort to cut a deal. Yet an internal Serbian Army document written by Apis in June 1914 shortly before the assassination shows clearly that Apis did indeed send 4 pistols into Bosnia via Rade Malobabić. Other internal Serbian Army documents discuss the passage of the bombs across the border.
The author ignores the privileged position that Serb officials enjoyed in the Habsburg administration of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the prominent role Serbs played (and profited from) during the period of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and modernization that took place after the 1878 annexation. At the same time he fails to adequately explain the primary source of Young Bosnian dissatisfaction: Christians (Orthodox and Catholic alike) were upset with the lack of land reform in Habsburg Bosnia-Herzegovina, i.e., most land-owners were Muslim and most of the peasants were Christian.
All in all, the work is reminiscent of communist-era hagiography of the conspirators with a strong pro-Serb slant intended to rehabilitate Apis.
As a Sarajevo native, I am obsessed with the subject of the assassination of the heir apparent to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand Von Habsburg and his morganatic spouse, the Bohemian aristocrat Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkowa. The marriage was initially resisted by the Emperor Franz Joseph I, but after pressure from family members and other European rulers, he relented in 1899 (but did not attend the wedding himself, nor their funeral in Vienna). The bride was given a symbolic title of Princess (later Duchess) of Hohenberg, their children took their mother's new name and rank, and were excluded from the imperial succession. The Sarajevo assassination in 1914, during which the couple was killed, triggered the First World War.
I have read approximately 6 books on this subject, all written from a different perspective: one as a romantic story of two people of unequal social status deeply in love, one about the "liberating heroes whose longing for freedom of the Austrian tyranny lead to unification of the South Slavs into one state - Yugoslavia," one that portrayed those same "heroes" as "maniacal Serb suicidal terrorists..." This account, however, is the only English language book that focuses strictly on the act of assassination and those involved, taking into account different versions of the story and allowing the readers to their own conclusion.
I highly recommend this book. I also recommend a visit to Sarajevo, its museums, stroll down the Appel Quay and the Latin Bridge where the assassination took place, followed by a visit to the Hoffburg Palace in Vienna. I was able to complete these visits in 2004 and I'm planning on visiting my hometown again this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this, in my personal opinion, a cowardly, selfish and nationalistic act that ended up costing millions of innocent lives and a drastic restructure of the world order and political borders in Europe.
Really want to like the book, but the editing is absolutely atrocious. Im on page 91 and have experienced several typos, bizarre and jarring sentences, and just things are are untrue.
Why include minor details, only to get them wrong? One passage states that Draga, wife of King Alexander was 7 years older than the King. She was 10 years older.
Another passage states that Apis was tried in the Salonika Trials in 1917, the literal next page says that he was found guilty by the trials and executed on June 26, 1916. So he was executed before the trials began? In reality he was executed on June 24, 1917.
I find it just mind boggling that errors like this exist in a published book! Its so unfortunate because i want to read and enjoy it but then when he gets simple KNOWN to be true facts wrong, in a book where a shadow of conspiracy hangs over every question, how much of it can even be taken seriously?
Confusing, disjointed and all over the place. Needs a good edit. Also needs a good narrator, and is a prime example of why authors shouldn't (with one or two exceptions) read their own books. This guy reads words that aren't there, and pronounces the same word in totally different ways. He has neither the voice, nor the skill to be a narrator. Don't think he has a lot of skill in the coherent writing department either. :(
Largely easy to read & enjoyable book on the lives of people behind the assassination of Grand Duke Franz Ferdinand that in turn lead to the start of World War I.
It's the only book I've read focusing on the people behind the act so it is hard to give a proper review but I recommend it. The author referred to many personal letters & interviews, and stated that a couple of his sources were either newly available or not used before (whether true?). This enabled the author to focus on the thoughts & interactions of people involved, a lot more compared to any books I've read on the general subject.
I've read reviews that seem to be complaining that the author was trying at least in part to glorify the guilty parties. I disagree. In my mind the author was simply writing a book from a fair central point of view.
People importantly need to remember Bosnia had been under occupation since the 1300's by powerful empires, firstly by the Habsburg German Empire (Holy Roman Empire), then the Turkish Ottomans, and lastly annexation by the Austrian Empire in 1908. It does well outlining the thoughts & actions of Austrian, Serbian, German & other key European states without going over the top & starting tangential stories. The Bosnian population simply wanted to be free to rule themselves & this is well documented throughout the book. This is not terrorism but freedom fighting.
The book mentioned military actions of World War I rarely if relevant to actions of the key personal involved which I appreciated as I'm quite aware of the actions of World War I & it allowed the key focus to continue throughout the book.
I'm sure there are better books on the subject, but for a short easy to read book I recommend it. Biggest issue I had was with remembering all the different names but my memory is suffering currently.
Exhaustive and often exhausting document of the conspiracy to assassinate Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Picks up a bit once it gets to the actual assassination (which deserves close coverage), the trial (a short event that can be covered in full), and the aftermath (which, lasting almost a century by time of writing, necessarily has to be abridged), but the meticulous listing of who exactly was where and when in the weeks leading up to the assassination (sample passage: "Trifko took his socks off before they both lay down for a sleep. Trifko woke up, had something to eat and fell asleep again. He later woke up and vomited.") may be necessary to have recorded for posterity but isn't hugely readable.
Approfondimento riuscito bene solo in parte su uno degli avvenimenti (forse L'avvenimento) che più hanno condizionato il Novecento. Vicenda raccontata in modo un po' confuso, avrei preferito qualcosa di più lineare soprattutto sul piano temporale, invece l'autore continua a saltare di qua e di là tra protagonisti e avvenimenti preparatori ma senza seguire un filo chiaro e logico. Poi però ci sono alcuni capitoli davvero scritti molto bene come quello della cronaca dell'assassinio oppure sulle sorti dei processi e delle sepolture degli imputati.
An exhaustively researched account of the lives and actions of the assassins that murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, triggering the First World War. However, both the Archduke himself and the the truly appalling lack of foresight, planning and security on the Austrian side (so shockingly complacent and arrogant that conspiracy theories soon became credible) that allowed a group of young, totally inexperienced and completely amateur killers to perpetrate the murder are given scant consideration when that is clearly of the utmost importance.
This was an interesting read. Very dry at parts but a comprehensive look into the why and how the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand happened. It goes into the trial and what happened to the conspirators and others who helped the main group as well. Good for people who really like history
One Morning in Sarajevo follows the days/weeks up to the 28th of June 1914 when Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek were shot and killed in Sarajevo.
Initially I believed that this book would base around Princip, but I was wrong. Not that there was anything wrong with it, I was just a bit surprised. The book follows Princip's moves step by step. We're introduced to his accomplices and their back stories- and with them, we prepare for the killing.
I must admit that the pictures that were added to the book were a huge plus. It's one thing to read about the history, but to actually be provided with some images makes it easier to remember (at least for me). On one picture on page 229 though, there's a picture of a gun that was used on the day and it says that one of the four guns is missing. Ok. No one knows where it is or what happened to it? If they managed to retrieve all the guns except for that one, how did one manage to slip by?
The author's way to progress and write the book is also really well thought through. Like I mentioned earlier, I felt like I was at some parts there getting ready with them. All the new places and people we meet are properly introduced and it's not difficult to follow.
Princip himself is ugh. No comment.
What's could be considered even more nteresting than the assassination itself, is what happened afterwards. The death of Ferdinand and Sophie is said to be the spark that ignited WW1, but it didn't quite just end there.
Though this book is about Princip and his "duties", the end of the book tells you what happened up to 1996/97 which I think is done well to update those who may, or may not, know about it. This includes Tito, how shitty the UN is was when it came to protecting the people and the destruction of Yugoslavia.
The very last chapter contains the author's personal experience he had in the areas he visited whilst searching for the truth and sources for the book. Quite interesting to be honest.
What did I learn from reading this book? A lot! And it's not even an overreaction. I always knew the fundamental things about it, but never in this great detail- and especially not gathered in one place. The most important thing that I both learned and realized is that my country's history is too rich. There's so much going on that I sometimes feel like we should have considered being more boring..
This book provides an account of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne in 1914 that touched off the First World War. The book is a biography of the assassins and a history of their time. It concentrates on Serbia's role in the First World War, a subject that is not often covered in conventional histories of the war. The main problem with the book is that there is very little information available about Gavrilo Princip, the main assassin. So, the author focuses on other figures who were only loosely involved in the plot. The author also conducts interviews with relatives of the principle figures; however, since the events in the book occurred nearly a century ago, it is hard to obtain much new information from this source.
Hard to imagine how a funny little man in a badly fitting blazer could carry out an assasination with such far reaching consequences. One of the photographs is quite poignant. Got the car which the arch duke and duchess are in just about to turn right up the street where they get assasinated. When you look at it you think that less than a minute after the photo was taken the world would have changed forever.
Very well reseached. Maybe goes into a bit much detail in places for the average reader. I should imagine though it is the definitive guide for anyone who wants to study this dark episode in history in depth.
Recensione di Roberto Saviano su La Repubblica del 27 giugno: http://www.repubblica.it/cultura/2014... Essenziale per comprendere l'attentato di Sarajevo e l'avvio della Grande Guerra nel contesto storico dei Balcani anche in relazione alle guerre che hanno continuato poi a sconvolgere la regione lungo il Novecento.