These books may not be moving at the speed of Stephanopoulos (or Bill Gates), but the NATO air strike in the Kosovo conflict has prompted reorders of some relevant history/current affairs titles. They include:
The Serbs, History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia by Timothy Judah. Yale University Press is now planning a 5000-copy back to press on this December 1998 paperback, a pretty significant number, considering that Judah's book has sold about half that amount in combined hardcover/paperback to date. In recent days, British journalist Judah has appeared on CNN and is tentatively booked for Nightline. Yale also has just released the hardcover The Collapse of the Soviet Military by William E. Odom, a retired Lieutenant General who has also been a commentator on recent news shows.
Kosovo: A Short History by N l Malcolm. On March 25, New York University Press took orders totaling 700 copies for this title, almost 10% of what the book has sold since its July hardcover release. Malcolm also penned a primer on Bosnia, which has sold some 20,000 copies for the house. NYU Press also just got a request from ABC News for an appearance by author Branimir Anzulovic; his Heavenly Serbia: From Myth to Genocide has just been released by the house.
The Road to Kosovo: A Balkan Diary. This Westview Press title, a travelogue by Colorado journalist Greg Campbell, was originally scheduled for a June publication; thanks to breaking events, the press has moved the official pub date to May 1, with books to ship to stores by April 9. The press is starting to get backorders on this book; after a 7500-copy first printing, a second is likely.
On March 25, Penguin faxed to accounts a "Yugoslavia in the news" alert about related backlist books; these include Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation by Laura Silber and Allan Little; The Fall of Yugoslavia: The Third Balkan War by Misha Glenny; Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West; and Srebrenica: Record of a War Crime by Jan Willem Honig and Norbert Both. In all cases, small reprints are planned.
And finally, late April will see the ship of the Modern Library paperback reprint of To End a War, special U.S. envoy to the Balkans Richard Holbrooke's account of his peace negotiations in Yugoslavia, currently available in Random House hardcover. Modern Library publishing director David Ebershoff told PW that Holbrooke had until early March to add updates to the new edition; the NATO strike, therefore, is not included, although the book is considered a valuable overview of the situation. And by the time of the paperback release, there may be some additional author publicity: Holbrooke is expected to be appointed U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
