This book is equal parts biography, memoir, history, and travelogue. Tim Butcher travels Gavrilo Princip’s path from a small village in Herzegovina to Sarajevo to Belgrade and back to Sarajevo, where Princip fired the shots that took the life of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in 1914. This act is often cited as the spark than launched the Great War. During Butcher’s trek, he recalls his time as a journalist reporting on the Bosnian War in the 1990s. Covering Bosnian history from three timelines, 1910s, 1990s, and present day, and filling in the historical context, is an effective way to provide the big picture.

Butcher tracks the development of Princip from childhood to gifted student to assassin. He discovers a stone slab on which Princip had carved his initials, his school records, and evidence of his increasing involvement in political causes. Butch portrays Princip’s motivation to free the South-Slavs from rule by Austria-Hungary. Since Princip lived only 23 years, over a hundred years ago, the primary source material is limited, but Butcher has managed to craft these nuggets into a storyline that is easy to follow and provides a wealth of information. If you are interested in the history of Bosnia/Herzegovina or WWI, this is a great one to pick up.
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I read this after returning from a trip to the Balkans. It certainly helps to make sense of a very complicated part of the world. Not only does Tim Butcher tread in the footsteps of the man who 'started' WW1 when he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914, but he looks back into his own past as a fledgling reporter during the Balkan War of the 1990s. He expertly weaves together these two events with great insight and like every good historian goes back to the original sources where he finds them. His humanity leaps off the page and to cap it all, he has a wonderful writing style. ( )

This book really affected me. It's written by a British journalist who decides to follow the footsteps--literally--of Gavrilo Princip from his boyhood home to his assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. He hikes across the country writing part travelogue, part history book. To add another layer, he had been in Bosnia during the Bosnian War in the 1990s, so he's also telling the story of his time there--and there are a few stories of WWII thrown in for good measure. Really fascinating.
It's a scary book, too, though because you see how little it takes before next door neighbors are sending bullets through each others' doors. People don't realize how easy it is to blow everything up. ( )

I really liked this book! It developed into a saga I had not expected. Not only does the author cover the life and times of Gavrilo Princip, he also deals with the geography of the Balkans, some of its politics, its history. In a relatively short book the author adequately covers a great deal of ground. Of particular interest to me is the evolution of Princip's political views and philosophy. I will not spoil the book, but suffice to say Princip's ultimate goals were shown not to what I had believed after reading many books on the origins of WWI.

Tim Butcher does an outstanding of job of walking us through the growth and motivation for Princip in the assassination in June, 1914. Very much worth the read. ( )