Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States (Religion and Global Politics)
"Perica's historical study, based on a large amount of primary source, including hitherto unavailable party archives, sociological surveys, and interviews with party and religious officials, effectively demonstrates that religious institutions played a divisive role among Yugoslav peoples, despite periods of respite and the presence of ecumenical currents."--Comparative Politics"Vjekeslav Perica brilliantly recounts the role of religious narratives, institutions, organizations, and, most importantly, church or religious authorities both in constituting the three dominant identities of Yugoslavs and, in turn, in appropriating those narratives and identities for the destruction of the Yugoslav state and the possibility of civic and civil life in it.... Fundamentalism is the enemy of all that makes democracies functional and civility possible, whether in secular, religious, nationalist, patriotic, or ethnic clothing. Perica's contribution to our understanding of this phenomenon is immense."--Journal of the American Academy of Religion"Vjekoslav Perica's masterfully written and extensively researched book fills an important gap in the historical scholarship on twentieth century  southeastern Europe."--Association of Contemporary Church Historians