Map of Europe: 1000 AD to Present

Last night one of the things we talked about was all the strife throughout world history and I promised to share this map which vividly shows the boundary changes since 1000 AD set to some dramatic music. It's mind boggling to remember that most of these border changes were probably caused by disputes and/or wars.

More Pictures from the Siege

Remember Sarajevo is a site of pictures of the Seige by photojournalist Roger M. Richards. Some of these images are hard to look at and it's even harder to realize that this happened just 20 years ago and less than ten years after Sarajevo hosted the winter Olympic games in 1984.

Sobering.

Sniper

In the Afterword to The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway mentions a Radio Denmark documentary made about a female sniper named Arrow during the siege of Sarajevo.

 Here is a link to that documentary made by American Stephen Schwartz:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soundmusicword/sniper/4612710

A Brief History of the Conflict in Kosovo

Even when it was going on, I was confused by the war in Kosovo and who all the various players were. This brief article helped me understand the roots of the conflict----which go waaayy back to the 13th century. (Don't worry, this author paints the conflict in broad brushstrokes.)

So, if you're interested in learning about (or refreshing your memory about) the conflict in and around Kosovo, you might read this: http://www.historytoday.com/robert-bideleux/kosovos-conflict.