Tracking Down The Balkan War Criminals

Book by Guardian journalist who grew up in Chiswick

A Chiswick native and award-winning international correspondent has won acclaim for his book on the hunt for some of the worst killers of our time.

The Guardian's World Affairs Editor, Julian Borger, launched his book The Butcher's Trail; How the Search for Balkan War Criminals Became the World's Most Successful Manhunt, in London last week, attended by a large group of friends and relatives from W4.

The book, which chronicles how Radovan Karadzic and other war criminals were tracked down, gives a chilling account of the Bosnian war, and the international efforts to bring justice to the region. It's been described by the Wall Street Journal as "a timely reminder of how feckless international efforts can be when it comes to stopping war crimes or, later, holding their perpetrators to account."

Another prestigious publication described it as "a well-organized, deeply researched work that ably digests the Balkan war, the criminals, the criminal court, and its legacy."

Julian, who grew up in Chiswick, where his mother artist Wyn Borger still lives, attended Latymer Upper School before going to university at Oxford and starting his career abroad, firstly as an economist in Lesotho, then as a journalist.

In the early 1990s, he covered the transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa for the BBC before joining The Guardian, where he covered the conflict in the Balkans. The book, which involved painstaking research, has taken him over three years to complete.

He told chiswickw4.com that he felt compelled to write The Butcher's Trail . "As a journalist covering the Bosnian conflict, I had seen the scale of the crimes committed and followed the aftermath closely. It started out as a magazine article and then turned into a book."

Julian Borger was born in Bedford Park, "in a house that I'm told is now lived in by the actress Elizabeth McGovern" (Downton Abbey's Lady Cora), and he became interested in history while studying at Latymer Upper.

He is a frequent visit to Chiswick, along with wife Monika Stedul and their son Ben. The couple held their wedding party at the former Pissarro restaurant some years ago but have been based in Brighton for several years.

"I've very fond memories of Chiswick. My mum took part in an art exhibition at the first Bedford Park Festival and she's still painting. I also loved Andy's Kebab shop and I'm glad that, even though it's now called Lara, they still have an 'Andy's special' on the menu."

Julian has had stints as a foreign correspondent in Poland, as Middle East bureau chief in Jerusalem and is set to leave in September to become Washington Bureau Chief for the Guardian.

The Butcher's Trail is published by Other Press (NY) at £17.99

February 26, 2016