Unearthing The Atrocity Of War In The Balkans
In The New York Review of Books in 1996, Misha Glenny describes a harrowing trip to the Svarc Hospital in Karlovac, the first large building in the line of Serbian fire during the war and outlines his reasons for travel.
"Seeing a civilian hospital severely damaged by heavy artillery was shocking enough; but I was there to investigate the claims of Croatian civilians, mainly peasants from the two adjoining regions of Kordun and Banija, that they and their compatriots had been the victims of atrocities by Serb paramilitary fighters during a recent offensive."
From the peak of atrocities during the Balkan war to journeying across the world to interview representatives of FARC in Columbia who, he notes "has a track record of kidknapping journalists who have come to interview them and then keeping them captive for years on end in the most inhospitable conditions", Misha Glenny has seen, heard and covered some chilling stories in a distinguished career as a journalist and historian over the past few decades.
On August 17th he joins us for the annual Hubert Butler Lecture to talk about the war in the Balkans, how opposing sides on a harrowing siege were allies at other parts of the table, the growth and internationalisation of organised crime fuelled by a booming black market cigarette trade and more, all twenty years on from the beginning of the siege in 1992, along with sharing other insights into the murky world of some of the Balkan territories.
Prepare yourself for some shocking tales from a man who has seen things others will only have nightmares about. Like every other year, we expect this one to be a packed house. If you're looking forward to it and heading along, let us know in the comments below. You can also get your tickets here.
