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Dejan Djokic, Elusive Compromise: A History of Interwar Yugoslavia (Columbia, 2007)
Based on Dejan Djokic's original research in Croatian, Serbian, British, and American archives, Elusive Compromise is a unique history of the original, interwar Yugoslavia of 1918-1941. Unlike other scholars, Djokic argues that this period can be best understood by analyzing political attempts to reach a Serb-Croat compromise. Historians have long recognized the Croats' rejection of state centralism, but Djokic shows that, by the mid-1930s, many Serbs had accepted federalism as well. During this period, it is commonly believed that Serbs and non-Serbs were engaged in constant conflict; however, Djokic argues that the radicalization leading to the war years of 1941-45 and the subsequent communist takeover was instead a response to the political mismanagement of the country.
Elusive Compromise places Yugoslavia in the context of a Europe-wide struggle between democracy and dictatorship and provides a thorough understanding of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and other multinational states.
Participants in the Special Book Panel held at ASN 2009: Chip Gagnon (Ithaca College, US), Sarah A. Kent (U of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, US), Thomas A. Emmert (Gustavus Adolphus College, US), Dejan Djokic (Goldsmiths, U of London, UK), Bojan Aleksov (U College London, UK).