The first ever spomenik guidebook, with over 75 examples alongside map references & information on why they exist & who built them. Spomenik` the Serbo-Croat/ Slovenian word for `monument`
- refers to a series of memorials built in Tito`s Republic of Yugoslavia from the 1960s-1990s, marking the horror of the occupation & the defeat of Axis forces during World War II. Hundreds were built across the country, from coastal resorts to remote mountains. Through these imaginative forms of concrete & steel, a classless, forward-looking, socialist society, free of ethnic tensions, was envisaged. Instead of looking to the ideologically aligned Soviet Union for artistic inspiration, Tito turned to the west & works of abstract expressionism & minimalism. As a result, Yugoslavia was able to develop its own distinct identity through these brutal monuments, which were used as political tools to articulate Tito`s personal vision of a new tomorrow. Today, following the breakup of the country & the subsequent Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, some have been destroyed or abandoned. Many have suffered the consequences of ethnic tensions
- once viewed as symbols of hope they are now the focus of resentment & anger. This book brings together the largest collection of spomeniks published to date. Each has been extensively photographed & researched by the author, to make this book the most comprehensive survey of this obscure & fascinating architectural phenomenon. A fold-out map on the reverse of the dust jacket shows the exact location of each spomenik using GPS coordinates.