A Concise History of Bosnia.

• Author: Preljevic, Hamza
• Position: Book review

By Cathie Carmichael

United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2015, 242 pages, $88.00 (hbk), ISBN: 9781107016156.

Reviewed by Hamza Preljevic, International University of Sarajevo

Cathie Carmichael's book integrated the political, economic and cultural history of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Throughout a rigorous study of primary and secondary sources, the book offers an objective engagement, covering the historical developments of BiH. Carmichael avoided a narrow approach towards the history of BiH by not focusing only on the events of the 1990's--but rather offered a historical overview of the country (from the Ottoman Empire until the recent events). In other words, the book does not examine only the emergence of the narratives that were critical for the nation-building in BiH, but rather the country's history itself. However, Carmichael failed to devote a whole chapter in the book to the 'medieval Bosnia' which is an important historical epoch to fully understand the country's complex heritage. Nevertheless, Carmichael did cover the medieval Bosnia partially in the introductory part of the book. The ethnically divided modern BiH cannot be understood without considering the medieval Bosnian Church and Bogomilism which is observed as one indigenous Bosnian phenomenon that lies at the heart of the Bosniak nationalism.

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This book consists of seven chapters including the introduction and conclusion. For those who are not familiar with the history of BiH, it would be advisable to pay attention to the book's "Preface" before starting to read the chapters. The author offers there a firsthand experience of the Bosnian spirit (Bosanski duh) and describes spiritual difference of BiH in 1989 and 2011. Additionally, Carmichael shares her view about the post-Bosnian war society which was exposed through means of genocide, mass deportation etc.

In the introduction, Carmichael overviews the natural heritage and beauty of BiH, the cultural and religious wealth, the great novelists, the poetry which exists since the Neolithic era (p. 10) and shortly reflects on the medieval Bosnia (pp. 12-15). The second chapter "Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Ottoman Empire (1463-1912)" describes the Eastern elements of the Bosnian history. Carmichael says "Bosnia had been largely Catholic land with autonomous traditions and Hum largely Orthodox [referring to the pre-Ottoman Bosnia]" (p. 21). The author failed here to describe the Bosnian Church...