They Would Never Hurt a Fly

"Who were they? Ordinary people like you or me — or monsters?” asks internationally acclaimed author Slavenka Drakulić as she tries to understand the people behind the horrific crimes committed during the war that tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Drawing on firsthand observations of the trials, as well as on other sources, Drakulić portrays some of the individuals accused of murder, rape, torture, ordering executions, and more during one of the most brutal conflicts in Europe in the twentieth century, including former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević; Radislav Krstić, the first to be sentenced for genocide; Biljana Plavšić, the only woman accused of war crimes; and Ratko Mladić, now in hiding. With clarity and emotion, Drakulić paints a wrenching portrait of a country needlessly torn apart.