An epic novel of twentieth-century Balkan life, from the decline of the Ottoman Empire through the bloodshed of the Bosnian War This grand novel encompasses nearly all of Yugoslavia's tumultuous twentieth century, from the decline of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires through two world wars, the rise and fall of communism, the breakup of the nation, and the terror of the shelling of Dubrovnik. Tackling universal themes on a human scale, master storyteller Miljenko Jergovic traces one Yugoslavian family's tale as history irresistibly casts the fates of five generations. What is it to live a life whose circumstances are driven by history? Jergovic investigates the experiences of a compelling heroine, Regina Delavale, and her many family members and neighbors. Telling Regina's story in reverse chronology, the author proceeds from her final days in 2002 to her birth in 1905, encountering along the way such traumas as atrocities committed by Nazi Ustashe Croats and the death of Tito. Lyrically written and unhesitatingly told, The Walnut Mansion may be read as an allegory of the tragedy of Yugoslavia's tormented twentieth century.

"Poetic and moving . . . of the many books written on Bosnia, this collection of stories is perhaps the best."-Slavenka Drakulic

"Sarajevo Marlboro" is Miljenko Jergovic's remarkable dA(c)but collection of stories. Jergovic is a child of Sarajevo who remained in the city throughout the war. A dazzling storyteller, he brings a profoundly human, razor-sharp -understanding of the fate of the city's young Muslims, Croats, and Serbs with a subterranean humor and profoundly personal vision. Their offbeat lives and daily -dramas play out in the foreground, the killing zone in the background.

Miljenko Jergovic was born in Sarajevo in 1966. A poet and journalist, he writes for the daily "Oslobodjenje" newspaper. He has written another collection of stories as well as two novels: "Buick Riviera" and "Mama Leone." His work has been translated extensively throughout the world.

Stela Tomasevic (Translator) was born in Belgrade in 1963. She studied literature at the University of East -Anglia. She has translated numerous works of nonfiction from the Serbo-Croatian and from the French. She currently works for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Former -Yugoslavia.

Ammiel Alcalay (Introduction) is a scholar, critic, trans-lator and poet. In his own words, "My immersion in a -diversity of languages and cultures has shaped and informed my place within American culture. I have come to see myself as a conveyor of ideas, texts, histories, cultural encounters and narrative points of view that, for a variety of reasons, have not gotten the attention they merit."