DOC Blue Helmets and Black Markets: The Business of Survival in the Siege of Sarajevo by Peter Andreas in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Interesting bookBy everyday manReading the book "Logavina Street" fired my interest to learn more about the siege of Sarajevo. "Blue Helmets...." only had 1 review and it was pretty negative; but after reading the sample available; didn't find his review accurate. Clicking on the reviewer revealed that this is the only review he has written; so I decided to ignore it and read the book.It is an interesting book; delving into the front stages and back stages of the siege. Front stage things were the shellings; the humanitarian aid; etc. Back stage things were the reporters were mainly concentrated in Sarajevo; keeping the world's attention there and not on the genocide in places like Srebrenica; for the humanitarian aid to get through; 25% was given to the Serbs who either used it for their own soldiers or sold it on the black market to help fund the siege; arms embargo enabled the criminal elements to play a greater role in the defense of Sarajevo; allowing them a greater role in politics; etc. It also goes into a much broader discussion of the role the UN played in the siege. both the good and the bad.4 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Pretentious TextbookBy James MuellerPeter Andreas makes several interesting claims in this book. First; the fact that profiteering from black market smuggling across the siege border perpetuated the siege; making the siege of Sarajevo the longest in modern history. Also; he comments how the UN control of the Sarajevo Airport and the subsequent airlift lead to a "legitimization" of the Bosnian Serbs' siege in the eyes of the international community. Along with that idea he talks of how the Sarajevo siege was able to grab international attention as opposed to other conflicts given that Sarajevo offered easy access for journalists and foreign dignitaries.The reason for the low rating of this book is that Peter Andreas spends the whole first chapter outlining how great his book is compared to all other accounts of the siege. He treats his readers as if they are idiots and can't tell that there might have been forces acting behind the scenes during the siege besides what was written about in official reports. The reader leaves this book with a sense of the siege of Sarajevo and of Andreas' huge ego at being able to write about the "untold story" of Sarajevo.Ultimately; this book is good for a reader looking for a textbook-like account of the siege of Sarajevo if they don't mind trudging through all of Peter Andreas' self-admiration.