Thursday, June 16, 2011

Top 10 books about Bosnia, Sarajevo and Bosnian culture and history



Most books you find on Bosnia are going to be the Subject of war and tragedies. There is no denying the culture of Bosnia, unfortunately many peoples exposure to Bosnia is from WWI and the Bosnian war. The one exception to this was that glorious moment in 1984 when Sarajevo and all of Yugoslavia held the 1984 Olympics, short on western amenities, the 1984 games were long on kindness and charity to the people who went to Sarajevo and is something they will never forget. Bosnia, however has a rich cultural history brought upon it by being the crossroads of so many civilizations. Bosnia through it's history has had to be open to other cultures and ways of living. The Bogomils, the indigenous people of Bosnia had a very open minded culture and was accepting of travellers and their cultures, this belief is alive and well in Bosnia.

Bosnia has so much to offer the world besides war, it's culture of tolerance and inclusion is battered but alive and these books speak to the greatness and beauty that is Bosnia and Herzegovina. The only omission from this list is Tim Clancy's travel books on Bosnia made by Brandt travel. Really the only travel books of consequence ever produced for Bosnia in it's rich history.


1) Culture Smart Bosnia and Herzegovina: A great resource on life and culture of Bosnia. It really tells the story well of the people of Bosnia and their rich cultural and heritage.

2) The Best of Bosnia and Herzegovina: A great reference showing all that Bosnia has to offer. A large picture book that shows all the regions and major towns.

3) Forgotten Sarajevo-Miroslav Prstojevic: A rich book about the culture and history a well written historical guide thru Sarajevo.

4) My lovely Bosnia-Christian Schwager: A great photo book showing the beauty of Bosnia.

5) Pictures without borders Bosnia revisited-Steve Horn: A interesting book from Steve Horn who travelled Bosnia in the 1970's and returned in the late 1990's to revisit the region.

6) Sarajevo-Svjetlost: A great photo book by famous publishing house Svjetlost showing Sarajevo at it's finest even in it's postwar period.

7) Sarajevo S Ljubavlju-Ivo Eterovic: A beautiful photo book made around the time of the 1984 Sarajevo winter Olympics showing Sarajevo in all of it's glory.

8) Tuzland Knjiga o Tuzli-Fatmir Alispahic: A great look at a often forgot about town Tuzla, the regional hub and cultural center of northern Bosnia.

9) Sarajeska Fukra Sarajevo Way-Jasminko Halilovic & Asija Kamaric: A great book written about life and culture in Sarajevo and what is a must see to understand the Sarajevo way...

10) A centennial of Bosniaks in America: A rich book showing the cultural history and contributions of Bosniaks in America.

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