This long-awaited book is the first to contain a comprehensive account of the emergence and development of the Partisan movement in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which occupiers and Quislings tried to erase from the map of Europe in 1941. The book contains a considerable amount of information obtained by the author through research in archives in London, Washington, Berlin, Munich, Helsinki and Moscow which to date has remained unknown since some parts of the archives were only opened recently.

This extensive monograph is without a doubt Dr. Pirjevec’s life’s work. It is the first comprehensive and synthetic account of the emergence and development of the Partisan movement in the whole of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, from the attack on and disintegration of Yugoslavia in April 1941 up until the end of the war.

The author describes the strained relations within the movement, as well as the relations between the Partisans and other military formations (White Guards, Chetniks, Ustashe, Ballists, etc.) and between the Partisans and allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.

The book demonstrates that there would have been no national liberation movement without the Communists and their utopian belief that they would create a better future, without their fanaticism, organization and discipline. Above all, the Yugoslav Partisan movement contributed significantly to the defeat of the Third Reich and its satellites and brought victory to the Yugoslav nations. Serbs, Montenegrins and Croats were saved from the shame of collaborationism, and Slovenes and Macedonians were also recognized as European nations with mapped out borders and statehood.