viii Foreword
drove the Nazis out of Yugoslavia. His political ingenuity led to the subsequent
foundation of a formidable socialist state. In 1948, when Stalin and the Comin-
form broke ties with Yugoslavia, hoping to force the young country to bend
to Soviet influence, Tito guided his country through a sequence of turbulent
global alliances with grit, vision, and cunning, emerging by the 1960s as the
leader of the powerful Non-Aligned Movement. These were the driving themes
of Tito’s story, which formed the centerpiece of predominantly hagiographic
biographies in both Serbo-Croatian and English. These studies looked sympa-
thetically upon the socialist experiment and credited Tito with its success,
ignoring the dictator’s role in the crimes communists committed under his rule.^1
Tito’s biography became closely entwined with Yugoslavia’s foundational
myths and its political legacy. In the aftermath of the Second World War, con-
trol of the past was essential to solidifying new regimes and helping societies
heal from the traumas of war and genocide.^2 Governments closely monitored
historical production, especially the public narrative of the war, and Yugoslav
efforts echoed this pan-European process. As a country created amid Fascist
occupation and international and civil war, socialist Yugoslavia’s foundational
myths emphasized two central concepts: “anti-Fascism” and “brotherhood and
unity.” These tropes highlighted the comradery of Yugoslavia’s diverse popu-
lations who fought in the Partisan army, papering over the bitter rivalries and
civil conflicts that had destabilized the region since the First World War,
as well as the nationalist factions that collaborated with the Nazis or fought
against the communists. Those who dissented in the early postwar years were
branded as Fascists. To promote this singular historical narrative, the regime
developed a cult of Partisan heroes through history books, posters, and news-
papers; it also held public rallies and parades and built memorial complexes
to fallen Partisan soldiers, which quickly became mandatory sites of pilgrimage
for Yugoslav youths.^3 In Yugoslavia’s story, Tito was the devoted father, his
sons and daughters were the many diverse constituents of Yugoslavia. Occasional
dissident literature, notably works by Tito’s one-time communist comrade
Milovan Djilas, complicated Tito’s image by pointing out his more tactical and
less benevolent acts.^4 But for the most part, after 1950, the Yugoslav and West-
ern public were sympathetic to Tito. Captivating and gregarious, he was known
as the man who beat the Nazis and defied Stalin, who collected exotic animals
on an Adriatic island, and who socialized with movie stars and world leaders.
In the aftermath of Tito’s death in 1980, historians began to challenge Yugo-
slavia’s grand foundational narratives and the story of Tito himself. Within
Yugoslavia, scholars documented crimes committed by Partisan soldiers during
the Second World War and unearthed stories of communist repression. They
also called attention to the falsities of historical production in the socialist era,