Product Description

Renowned for his role in the Iranian Embassy siege and the Falklands War, General Sir Michael Rose now tells the inside story of one of the toughest challenges of his career, as Commander of the UN Protection Force in Bosnia in 1994. Having inherited a mission that was sliding into chaos, Rose's brief was to sustain the people of Bosnia in the midst of a devastating three-sided war and to try to prevent the conflict escalating. Facing scenes of inhumanity not witnessed in Europe since 1945, he describes how he dealt with individuals who would stop at nothing to fulfil their personal and political agendas. When General Rose left Bosnia at the end of the year the military conflict had been stabilised, aid convoys were reaching their destinations and civilians were once again able to walk the streets. How this turnaround was achieved is the subject of this plain-speaking, controversial account of a complex and bloody war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #164781 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 404 pages

Review
'The thinking man's BRAVO TWO ZERO' SPECTATOR 'One of Britain's most decorated and experienced battlefield soldiers' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Feisty, charismatic, combative and engaging... One of the surprises and delights of this book is its highly personal tone.' EVENING STANDARD 'Fascinating and well-written.' IRISH TIMES

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'One of Britain's most decorated and experienced battlefield soldiers'

EVENING STANDARD
'Feisty, charismatic, combative and engaging'

Customer Reviews

Excellent book
This book came highly recommended to me by a Bosnian friend now living in the UK and I read it after having been to Bosnia. I wished I'd read it before to have a better context for places I'd visited and the things people said. The conflict is still very present in Bosnia, from the scarred buildings, partioned country and strong feelings of the people. While in Bosnia, most things people said were biased (not without good reason).

This book I felt was really good at:
- putting across fairly the differing views on the situation (not just the three factions in Bosnia but also those of Serbia, Croatia, UN, NATO, US, Britain, Russia)
- differentiating between the different parties e.g. the Serbs and Bonsian Serbs, the US administration and American individuals within the UN
- creating an understanding of the complexities including the history of the region, the international political situation and personalities of the individuals, and never writing off an issue as just "very complex" without explaining why
- making it clear the differences between the UN, NATO and individual international governments, the the inter-dependence between them
- a good balance of detailed military maneuvers, the historical and political context, the personality of the different people/parties involved, comical events and asides, personal aspects of the author's life, day to day life in the UN

Michael Rose does on a couple of occasions try to explain the background to decisions he made which were reported in a negative light at the time in the media, and is at times critical of the negative media. However I felt the booked strived to always give both/all sides to each story and was never overly defensive. The main points - about the differing views/actions of the three Bosnian factions, and the differing roles of the UN and NATO - are put across excellently.

The book is a bit complex and confusing at first due to immense amount going on, but there's helpful maps and glossary of people to keep you guided. It's a hugely rewarding read and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Tremendously powerful account of the future of conflict!
Sir Michael Rose provides a vivid look at one of the seminal events of the post Cold War world from the vantage point of a military leader with a near impossible mission. As a highly experienced soldier, he took the mission to Bosnia with trepidation but an obvious professionalism that stood the test of adversity. This is more than history or an eyewitness account, but a template for future peacekeeping operations. Engaging at every level!