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Tim Marshall: Shadowplay : Behind the Lines and Under Fire (Paperback, 2019, Elliott & Thompson Limited) 5 stars

The Balkan conflicts of twenty years ago can inform our thoughts on the conflicts of today.

5 stars

Tim Marshall was on the ground as a reporter for much of the Yugoslav wars, and he tells the story as told to him, not only from armed forces on all sides, but some of the civilians, and reporters, in the war zone.

He tells of cities being bombed from afar with high technology weaponry, having much great impact on the civilian population than the military assets they were supposed to be targeting.

The large scale march to the capital after the Yugoslav election in 2000 has some resonances with the 2021 Capitol Riot - both fuelled by suspicion of a rigged election, but differ that history showed the Yugoslav one was, and the US one was not. Tim's reflections on the the current and future pressures in the region make interesting reading.