The Fracture Zone

The Fracture Zone is a true portrait of the Balkans — a beautiful yet chaotic region that encompasses many nations, including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and Serbia. Focusing on war-torn Kosovo, bestselling author Simon Winchester traveled extensively to examine the forces behind the violence, and why it may continue for years to come.

The title of the book refers to the boundary between the ancient Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires, which has been a source of political, religious and ethnic unrest for centuries. This boundary also marks the meeting point of two major tectonic plates, meaning that the earth itself exists in a state of chaos in this turbulent land.

Simon Winchester is the New York Times bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman. He is a writer and an adventurer, and has had an award-winning thirty-year newspaper career.

“Scholarly and moving ... [Winchester] combines historical significance with dramatic insight.” — Independent on Sunday