Warren Zimmermann was the American ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1992, the period when the breakup of the Soviet empire caused the Balkans to slide into war. In this candid insider"s account he recounts the failures of American and European diplomacy to prevent a catastrophe that was, according to Zimmerman, not only foreseeable but entirely preventable. The most chilling pages in this book depict Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who looked the ambassador in the eye, puffed on his Italian cigarillos, and stated that "Serbia has nothing to do with Bosnia." Now, as U.S. troops prepare to pull out of Bosnia by the end of 1996, Zimmermann"s memoir paints a bleak future for this war-torn corner of Eastern Europe.