Learn about Bosnia

Bosnia is a country of old bridges, strong coffee, sharp humor and some of the best writing in Europe. This list is a path into it. Level 1 is easy and fun. Each level goes a little deeper into the history, the books and the hard parts too. Stop wherever you like. Most people who start don't stop.

Level 1: Start here

Easy, fun, about one weekend · 8 picks
  • Bosnia in 10 Minutes

    Article · 10 min read

    Bosnia and Herzegovina sits where empires met.

    Read the article (free)
  • Rick Steves' Europe: Dubrovnik and Balkan Side-Trips

    TV episode · PBS, 2010

    Twenty-five minutes on the road to Mostar, the Old Bridge and its divers. The easiest possible start.

    Watch free on YouTube
  • No Man's Land

    Film · Danis Tanović, 2001

    Two enemy soldiers stuck in the same trench. Darkly funny, and it won the Oscar.

    Watch free on Tubi (US)
  • Fuse (Gori vatra)

    Film · Pjer Žalica, 2003

    A small Bosnian town scrambles to look perfect when it hears Bill Clinton is coming to visit. A comedy with a big heart. Silver Leopard at Locarno.

    Watch free on Fawesome
  • Top lista nadrealista

    TV sketch comedy · 1980s and 1990s

    Sarajevo's legendary absurd comedy show. Bosnian humor at its best. Clips are on YouTube.

  • Scream for Me Sarajevo

    Documentary · 2017

    Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden plays a concert in the besieged city. Proof Sarajevo never stopped living.

    Rent on Apple TV
  • The Book of My Lives

    Essays · Aleksandar Hemon, 2013

    Growing up in Sarajevo, then starting over in Chicago. Funny, warm and easy to read.

    Buy the book
  • Bosnia: A Short History

    Book · Noel Malcolm, 1994

    The one history book to read. Clear and not too long.

    Buy the book

Level 2: Getting hooked

The bigger story, including the war · 10 picks
  • The Bridge on the Drina

    Novel · Ivo Andrić, 1945

    Four hundred years of Bosnia through one bridge in Višegrad. Won Andrić the Nobel Prize.

    Classic, but criticized for its portrayal of Bosnian Muslims.

    Buy the book
  • Quo Vadis, Aida?

    Film · Jasmila Žbanić, 2020

    A UN translator tries to save her family in Srebrenica in 1995. Oscar-nominated.

    Watch free on Tubi (US)
  • The Death of Yugoslavia

    Documentary · BBC, 1995

    How the war happened, told by the leaders themselves.

    Watch free on BBC iPlayer (UK)
  • Mostar Sevdah Reunion

    Documentary · Pjer Žalica, 2000

    Old Mostar musicians come together to play sevdah, Bosnia's soulful love songs.

  • The Travel Show: The New Sarajevo

    TV episode · BBC, 2018

    A look at today's Sarajevo, a city moving past the war.

    Watch free on YouTube
  • Zlata's Diary

    Book · Zlata Filipović, 1993

    An 11-year-old's diary of the siege. Short and easy.

    Buy the book
  • Safe Area Goražde

    Graphic novel · Joe Sacco, 2000

    Comic-book journalism from a town surrounded during the war.

    Buy the book
  • How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone

    Novel · Saša Stanišić, 2006

    A boy from Višegrad, before and after the war.

    Buy the book
  • Grbavica

    Film · Jasmila Žbanić, 2006

    A mother and daughter in postwar Sarajevo. Golden Bear in Berlin.

    Watch free on hoopla with a library card
  • People of the Book

    Novel · Geraldine Brooks, 2008

    The story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a manuscript Sarajevans saved twice.

    Buy the book

Level 3: The rabbit hole

The classics Bosnians grow up with · 14 picks
  • Death and the Dervish

    Novel · Meša Selimović, 1966

    A dervish in Ottoman Sarajevo turns against the system that killed his brother. Often called the greatest Bosnian novel.

    Buy the book
  • Stone Sleeper (Kameni spavač)

    Poetry · Mak Dizdar, 1966

    Poems inspired by the stećci tombstones, including "Record of the Land."

    Buy the book
  • Days and Hours (Kod amidže Idriza)

    Film · Pjer Žalica, 2004

    A man comes to fix his uncle's boiler and ends up fixing the family. Quiet, warm, very Bosnian.

  • Saraj'vo

    Documentary · Mustafa Mustafić, 2017

    A love letter to Sarajevo and its people, with music by Damir Imamović.

  • A Letter from 1920

    Short story · Ivo Andrić, 1946

    A doctor leaves Bosnia, calling it a land of hatred. The most argued-over text about the country.

    Buy it in The Damned Yard and Other Stories
  • Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo

    Essay · Susan Sontag, 1993

    Staging Beckett in the besieged city while the world looked away.

    Read the essay in The New York Review (paid)
  • Sarajevo Safari*

    Documentary · Miran Zupanič, 2022

    Allegations of foreigners who paid to shoot at Sarajevans during the siege.

    *Based on allegations currently under investigation. Not yet proven.

    Stream on OpenDDB (paid, English subtitles)
  • The Badger Before the Court

    Satire · Petar Kočić, 1904

    A peasant puts the Austro-Hungarian court on trial over a badger.

    Read the original free on Wikisource
  • Sarajevo Blues

    Poetry · Semezdin Mehmedinović, 1995

    Short prose poems written during the siege.

    Buy the book
  • Sarajevo Marlboro

    Stories · Miljenko Jergović, 1994

    Short stories from the siege.

    Buy the book
  • Logavina Street (Besieged)

    Book · Barbara Demick, 1996

    One Sarajevo street through the siege.

    Buy the book
  • Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War

    Book · Peter Maass, 1996

    A Washington Post reporter's account of the war in Bosnia.

    Buy the book
  • Surviving Srebrenica

    Memoir · Hasan Hasanović, 2016

    A survivor's story of the death march through the forests.

    Buy the book
  • Sarajevo: A Biography

    Book · Robert Donia, 2006

    The life story of the city.

    Buy the book

Level 4: Obsessed

The founding texts and the deep cuts · 15 picks
  • Charter of Ban Kulin

    Document · 1189

    A trade deal with Dubrovnik and the oldest state document in Bosnian. Called Bosnia's birth certificate.

    Read the document (free)
  • The Ahdnama of Fojnica

    Document · 1463

    Sultan Mehmed II's charter guaranteeing the Bosnian Franciscans freedom of religion.

    See the original document (free)
  • The 1941 Muslim Resolutions

    Documents · 1941

    Bosniak leaders publicly condemn the persecution of Serbs and Jews under fascist rule.

    Buy the book with the full texts (in Bosnian)
  • ZAVNOBiH Resolution

    Document · 1943

    Declared Bosnia not Serb, Croat or Muslim, but all three together. The basis of modern Bosnian statehood.

    Read the document (free, PDF, in Bosnian)
  • The Dayton Agreement, Annex 4

    Document · 1995

    Bosnia's current constitution, and why the country works the way it does.

    Read the document (free)
  • The Fall of Srebrenica

    Report · United Nations, 1999

    The UN's own account of how it failed.

    Read the report (free, PDF)
  • Bosnian Chronicle

    Novel · Ivo Andrić, 1945

    Foreign consuls and Ottoman viziers in Travnik.

    Buy the book
  • The Fortress

    Novel · Meša Selimović, 1970

    A soldier comes home to 18th-century Sarajevo.

    Buy the book
  • Sarajevo, Exodus of a City

    Memoir · Dževad Karahasan, 1993

    What Sarajevo was, and what the siege tried to destroy.

    Buy the book
  • Endgame

    Book · David Rohde, 1997

    The fall of Srebrenica, day by day.

    Buy the book
  • A Problem from Hell

    Book · Samantha Power, 2002

    Why the West didn't act in Bosnia.

    Buy the book
  • The History of Bosnia

    Book · Marko Attila Hoare, 2007

    The deeper history.

    Buy the book
  • The Bosnian Church

    Book · John Fine, 1975

    Medieval Bosnia and its mysterious church.

    Buy the book
  • Hunger and Fury

    Book · Jasmin Mujanović, 2018

    Postwar politics and why Bosnia is stuck.

    Buy the book
  • Bosnian Knight

    Documentary · Tarik Hodžić, 2025

    A Srebrenica survivor turned American truck driver falls in love with medieval Bosnia.

Listen

3 picks
  • Easy start: Dino Merlin, Bijelo Dugme, Zabranjeno Pušenje.
  • Sevdah: Safet Isović, Himzo Polovina, Zaim Imamović.
  • Modern sevdah: Damir Imamović, Amira Medunjanin.

Read with context

Often cited, but know their reputation · 2 picks
  • Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

    Book · Rebecca West, 1941

    A famous Yugoslav travel book with a strong pro-Serb bias.

    Buy the book
  • The Islamic Declaration

    Essay · Alija Izetbegović, 1970

    Often quoted out of context by both critics and supporters.

    Buy the English translation

Ready to go? Plan your trip

FAQ

What should I watch first to learn about Bosnia?

Rick Steves' Mostar episode, then No Man's Land and Fuse.

What is the best book to start with?

Noel Malcolm's Bosnia: A Short History. For fiction, Ivo Andrić's The Bridge on the Drina.

What is the most famous Bosnian novel?

The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić and Death and the Dervish by Meša Selimović.