A professor who survived Auschwitz, a Sarajevo teenager coming of age amid shelling and bombing, a survivor of the siege and massacre of Srebrenica, a surgeon refusing to leave the war zone in order to treat wounded from both sides of the conflict, a pediatrician organizing a conference to encourage women to run for political office - these are the lost voices that are often disregarded or overlooked when historians chronicle the justifications and experiences of war.
To help these voices be heard, former US Ambassador Swanee Hunt vividly chronicles the experiences of twenty-six Bosnian women in her book This Was Not Our War. The women share riveting descriptions of their wartime experiences as well as their heartfelt and courageous efforts to repair the wounds inflicted upon their neighbors and their country. Ambassador Hunt became involved in diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the war-torn former Yugoslavia while serving as the US Ambassador to Austria in the 1990s. Hunt interviewed each woman multiple times over the course of seven years, skillfully intertwining their experiences into a startling narrative of what life was like during this chaotic and terrifying time.
To help these voices be heard, former US Ambassador Swanee Hunt vividly chronicles the experiences of twenty-six Bosnian women in her book This Was Not Our War. The women share riveting descriptions of their wartime experiences as well as their heartfelt and courageous efforts to repair the wounds inflicted upon their neighbors and their country. Ambassador Hunt became involved in diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the war-torn former Yugoslavia while serving as the US Ambassador to Austria in the 1990s. Hunt interviewed each woman multiple times over the course of seven years, skillfully intertwining their experiences into a startling narrative of what life was like during this chaotic and terrifying time.
Spanning all ethnic groups and heritages, the accounts of these women - politicians, doctors, journalists, businesswomen, and mothers - offer the reader diverse reasons for the war. Their dramatic stories chronicle daily survival in the war zone and describe their hopes as peace returns and healing begins due in large part due to their efforts. The women describe the heartbreak of watching their multicultural society disintegrate into chaos and violence while senior politicians manipulate the country into an unwanted war. They witness wartime atrocities that include rapes of neighbors and friends, daily survival in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle and camps where husbands, sons and brothers disappeared, some never to be seen or heard from again. The accounts of the violence and the struggle to survive are at times hard to bear, but with the introduction of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the prospect of peace, they begin to look toward the future and their stories become hopeful. Instead of succumbing to self-pity or hatred, each woman takes action to implement change and improve the conditions for those around them.
These stories of courage, imagination, initiative and forgiveness are inspiring and emotional: one woman founding an organization to help war survivors cope with post-traumatic stress disorder, another helping survivors find and repair their damaged homes, and a third starting a community art project to raise funds for women's causes that also helps survivors' healing through art therapy.
Although the stories are riveting, emotional and motivating, the book lacks a comprehensive historical narrative detailing the reasons for the war, the motivations of political leaders like Milosoveic and the political and strategic behind the scenes maneuverings of the many parties involved. While the stories focus on the experiences of the women involved, including this detail would have given the reader a broader picture of the conflict, allowing the women's stories to be placed in a coherent context.
Although the stories are riveting, emotional and motivating, the book lacks a comprehensive historical narrative detailing the reasons for the war, the motivations of political leaders like Milosoveic and the political and strategic behind the scenes maneuverings of the many parties involved. While the stories focus on the experiences of the women involved, including this detail would have given the reader a broader picture of the conflict, allowing the women's stories to be placed in a coherent context.
The second half of the book includes profiles of each of the women whose stories are included in the narrative. These would be of more benefit if read before the first half of the book, allowing readers to familiarize themselves with each of the women, their backgrounds and their personalities. Each profile is accompanied by a color photograph of the woman, which helps give a face to each story. Reading this section first makes the experience more real to the reader, as seeing the face of each survivor brings a reality to their words.
While there are certain structural problems, Ambassador Hunt's efforts to acknowledge the importance of women and their often unrecognized role in war make the book worthwhile and important. As he comments in his foreword to the book, former President Bill Clinton writes that a democracy functions best when all its citizens are engaged and that peace can thrive in an environment of diversity that honors the traditions of all of it people. This is the world that that the women of This Was Not Our War are building.
While there are certain structural problems, Ambassador Hunt's efforts to acknowledge the importance of women and their often unrecognized role in war make the book worthwhile and important. As he comments in his foreword to the book, former President Bill Clinton writes that a democracy functions best when all its citizens are engaged and that peace can thrive in an environment of diversity that honors the traditions of all of it people. This is the world that that the women of This Was Not Our War are building.
