Anzulovic's Heavenly Serbia is a great resource for students of the Balkans and the Yugoslav wars. It is also a good read for those with a general interest in the Balkans. The book is well written and well researched.

Strengths

Anzulovic sets out to explain how the myth of Heavenly Serbia has set the stage for the genocidal wars of the 1990s. He manages to do that very well in this book. He uses historical documents to prove that the myth was initially not a popular myth at all, but a church version of what had happened at the Battle of Kosovo in 1989. Further, he shows how the narrative spread among the population through the singing bards. Then, Anzulovic explains how the myth was used in the 19th and 20th centuries to justify Serbian megalomaniac ambitions. An, intriguing part of the book is the section where the author talks about how international circles had accepted the myth thus giving legitimacy to both the Serbian territorial ambitions and the genocidal campaigns.

Weaknesses

One weakness of the book is that Anzulovic often becomes repetitive. Also, one could argue that the author draws from too few sources when trying to prove his hypothesis. He relies a lot on Njegos's The Mountain Wreath to argue that the idea of eliminating entire ethnic groups to create a compact Serbian state was accepted widely. However, the content of one Serbian book is not as significant as the popularity of that book,. And, Anzulovic mentions the popularity of this and other similar books (Noz) to argue that the Serbian intellectuals were in fact promoting the myth Serbian victimization and calling for `revenge.'

In conclusion, Heavenly Serbia is an indispensable book for those who seek to understand the wars of 1990s in the Balkans. And, not only those but, also, previous wars of the 19th and 20th century in the Balkans which in fact were prequels to the 1990s, as this book implies.

The author has expressed an agenda which is not supported by the facts. I offer the reader the following works to gain a better insight into this subject: "THE SERBIAN FOLK EPIC Its Theology and Anthropology by Rev. Dr. Krstivoj Kotur"; "SAINT PETER OF MONTENEGRO by V. Rev. Vladimir M. Mrvichin"; "THE MOUNTAIN WREATH of P.P. Nyegosh"; "HERO TALES AND LEGENDS OF THE SERBIANS by W.M. Petrovich"; "MARKO, THE KING'S SON by Clarence A. Manning". A brief review of almost any of these works will provide clarity, when compered with Anzulovic's work. A number of other materials are available to the reader at less cost, and may provide insight to a area of world conflict ("SPY IN THE VATICAN by Bronkn Bokum"; "THE SERBS CHOOSE WAR by Ruth Mitchell";...).