Tim Judah sets the conflict in its full historical context. He explains how Kosovo became the crucible of a poisonous ethnic struggle between Serbs and Albanians that led to the destruction of the old Yugoslavia. He analyzes the character and career of Slobodan Milosevic and tells how Kosovo provided the springboard for him to mobilize the Serbs and seize supreme power. He reveals details of the lost opportunity of the February 1999 Rambouillet conference for peace and compromise in the southern Balkans. He describes how exiled Kosovar militants could take their war from Swiss cafes to the mountains of northern Albania. And he examines how and why NATO launched its first-ever war -- a 78-day campaign of high-tech air strikes against Serbia -- believing the onslaught would be over in days.

Based on extensive research, eyewitness reports, and interviews with leading protagonists, Judah's book is compelling -- and compulsory -- reading.