A study of the Bosnian Muslims, who are unique in Europe as indigenous Slavic Muslims. The book looks at their history, from being victims of crusades during the Middle Ages to their present plight in former Yugoslavia. It considers how ethnic tolerance turned to ethnic violence.

Descendants of schismatic Christians from the Middle Ages, they converted to Islam after the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia.The book follows them as they went from victims of crusades during the Middle Ages to members of the ruling elite within the Ottoman Empire; from rulers back to subjects under Austria-Hungary; and later subjects again, this time under the Serbs in the interwar Yugoslav Kingdom and the Communists after World War II. The Bosnian Muslims have survived through it all, even thriving during certain periods, most notably when they were recognized by Tito as a nation.Meticulously tracing their turbulent history and assessing the issues surrounding Bosnian Muslim nationhood in Yugoslavia, Friedman shows us how the mixed secular and religious identity of the Bosnian Muslims has shaped the conflict in which they are now so tragically embroiled. }

Introduction: Ethnicity, the Concept of a Nation, and the Bosnian Muslims
Origin of the Bosnian Muslims
Bosnian Muslims in the Ottoman Empire
Bosnian Muslims Under Austro-Hungarian Rule
Bosnian Muslims in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
Bosnian Muslims in World
War II
Growth of Bosnian Muslim Nationalism Under Tito
Bosnian Muslims and the Dynamics of Post-Tito Politics
Collapse of Yugoslavia and the Fate of the Bosnian Muslims
The Case of the Bosnian Muslims: Relevance for the Social Sciences.