Ian Oliver worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the European Union and was Bosnia's first 'High Representative' in the Former Yugoslavia during the Balkan wars of secession. He has since returned to help supervise the national and presidential elections there in 2000.

'(Oliver) offers much of value, not least a powerful opinion, from an ex-military officer, regarding the moral responsibility of the international community for its inaction in preventing the commission of war crimes.'Dave Carter, Balkan Academic News November 2005 'It can be highly recommended as a practical guide, as well as a record of an area hitherto somewhat neglected in the field of memoirs published following the disintegration of Yugoslavia.' - Dana Armean, International Affairs