Yugoslavia as History is the first book to trace the bloody demise of the former Yugoslavia through its history and its earliest roots. A Yugoslav idea had already emerged before the First World War, and it led to two states called Yugoslavia, between 1918 and 1941, and from 1945 until 1991. This book examines the origins of that idea among the related but separate peoples who have populated the region over the last 1,000 years, drawing out the connections this story has with the violent end of Tito's Yugoslavia in 1991. The author follows these peoples, their institutions and ideas from their earliest interaction, into the two World Wars and the states which resulted from them, detailing the tortuous search for political and economic viability which characterised Yugoslavian statehood. Accessible and authoritative, this book provides a unique insight into the origins of the tragedy that has overtaken the region.