Parachutes, Patriots and Partisans: The Special Operations Executive and Yugoslavia, 1941-1945

Based on impressive research and new evidence, this history of the secret British wartime agency, the Special Operations Executive, in wartime Yugoslavia argues that SOE actions achieved little military advantage for the Allies and exacerbated the developing civil war among the forces of monarchist Drazha Mihailovic, Tito's partisans, and other guerilla groups. Heather Williams tracks SOE relations with the British Foreign office, policy-makers, and military high command; the Yugoslav guerrilla movements and the exiled Yugoslav government; other secret organizations; and the American Office of Strategic Services, examining how rivalries among these players influenced the future of Yugoslavia.