Publisher's Synopsis
The stunning history of a man who lived a life of incomparable action, this unique self-portrait chronicles Stevan Dedijer's involvement in some of the major events of the 20th century and his role in the making of the modern United States and Europe. Born as a Serb in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dedijer immigrated to the United States during the Great Depression and began his strange, lifelong odyssey through a turbulent century. This enthralling autobiography recounts his time as a member of the Communist Party, his recruitment by the secret U.S. intelligence service for a sabotage mission in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, his assignment to the 101st airborne division during the failed Operation Market Garden, his extensive combat mission in the Battle of the Bulge, and his active criticism of the Yugoslavian regime under Tito. Also documenting Dedijer's role as scientist and scholar, this chronicle details his life away from the battlefields, from his time studying physics at Princeton and the Niels Bohr Institute to his career at Lund University and his founding of the Research Policy Institute. This breathtaking, humorous, and self-reflecting account tells of a human life shaped by the horrors and promises of the 20th century and a personality characterized by determination, curiosity, and an astonishing absence of self-pity.
