AguidebooktothewildworldofcommunistminimalisminTito’sYugoslaviaSpomenik--theSerbo-Croat/Slovenianwordformonument--referstothememorialsbuiltinTito’sRepublicofYugoslaviafromthe1960stothe1980s,markingthehorroroftheoccupationandthedefeatofAxisforcesduringWorldWarII.Hundredswerebuiltacrossthecountry,fromcoastalresortstoremotemountains.Throughtheseimaginativeformsofconcreteandsteel,aclassless,forward-lookingsocialistsociety,freeofethnictensions,wasenvisaged.InsteadoflookingtotheideologicallyalignedSovietUnionforartisticinspiration,TitoturnedtotheWestandworksofabstractexpressionismandminimalism.ThisallowedYugoslaviatodevelopitsowndistinctidentitythroughthemonuments,turningthemintopoliticaltools,articulatingTito’spersonalvisionofanewtomorrow.Today,followingthebreakupofthecountryandthesubsequentYugoslavWarsofthe1990s,somehavebeendestroyedorabandoned.Manyhavesufferedtheconsequencesofethnictensions:onceviewedassymbolsofhope,theyarenowthefocusofresentmentandanger.Thisbookbringstogetherthelargestcollectionofspomenikspublishedtodate.Eachhasbeenextensivelyphotographedandresearchedbytheauthor,makingthisbookthemostcomprehensivesurveyofthisobscureandfascinatingarchitecturalphenomenon.Theinsideofthebook’sdustjacketopensoutasamap,givingtheexactgeographiccoordinatesforeachmonument.
