Description
Book SynopsisThe most original of First World War centenary books; it is a travel narrative of rare resonance and insight' Sunday Times
On a summer morning in 1914, a teenage assassin fired the starting gun for modern history.
It was a young teenage boy named Gavrilo Princip who fired that fateful shot which killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo and ultimately ignited World War War. A hundred years later, Tim Butcher undertakes an extraordinary journey to uncover the story of this unknown boy who changed our world forever. By retracing Princip's journey from his highland birthplace, through the mythical valleys of Bosnia to the fortress city of Belgrade and ultimately Sarajevo, he illuminates our understanding both of Princip and the places that shaped him while uncovering details about Princip which have eluded historians for more than a century.
A masterpiece of historical empathy and evocation...This book is a tour de force' Guardian
Trade Review
The most original of First World War centenary books; it is a travel narrative of rare resonance and insight * Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times *
Superb... Highly readable but profoundly researched -- Ben Macintyre * The Times, Books of the Year *
A triumph… A marvellously absorbing book on the nature of one man’s political grievance and its terrible aftermath -- Ian Thomson * Observer Books of the Year *
The most imaginative and singular book on the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War to date... This is expeditionary journalism at its best – a historical inquest radiated through the mind and experience of an outstanding reporter -- Robert Fox * Evening Standard *
A masterpiece of historical empathy and evocation... This book is a tour de force -- Christopher Clark * Guardian *
