With Tito’s Partisans: Communists and Peasants in War-Torn Yugoslavia, 1941–1945

Who still remembers Tito’s Yugoslav Partisans? Once worshipped by some, now disparaged by others (or even by the very same), they remain largely unknown to the English-speaking public. This book enables readers to discover them through a meticulous reconstruction of their everyday life in the liberated territories. How did the Partisans stop interethnic violence? How did they foster the political participation of young people and women? What was the role of the Communist Party? What were the principles of the economy in the liberated territories? What were the Partisans’ views on justice, revenge and forgiveness? These are just some of the questions the author seeks to answer. The book also goes further, however, showing what makes up a resistance or revolutionary movement in the extreme conditions of war—where everyone must prove themselves, or perish.