In West's debut narrative, The Return of the Soldier (1918), a soldier, fractured by the trauma of World War I, returns home in 1916, the past fifteen years wiped from his memory. The story delves deep into the intertwined fates of three women intimately tied to his life, exploring the tumultuous landscape of their emotions.

The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers, 1804–1999 (2001), penned by Misha Glenny, offers a sweeping chronicle of the Balkan region. It illuminates the suffering endured at the hands of surrounding powers and delivers a scathing critique of NATO's 1999 military intervention in Serbia over the Kosovo conflict.

Kosovo: A Short History (1999), authored by the British historian and journalist Noel Malcolm, unfolds the turbulent saga of the province. It highlights the fierce clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, leading to NATO's decisive involvement in 1999.

Kosovo: War and Revenge (2000), by Tim Judah, provides a raw and immediate portrayal of the 1999 Kosovo conflict, crafted from the frontlines by a journalist who witnessed history unfold before his eyes.

Balkan Travels and Historical Echoes

Similar to Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Robert D. Kaplan's Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History (1994) intertwines travel narrative with the complex political tapestry of the Balkans. Kaplan suggests that the key actors of the 1990s Balkan wars are echoes of a region steeped in six centuries of turbulent history.

Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo (1995), penned by young Zlata Filipovic and translated by Christina Pribichevich-Zoric, captures the innocence shattered in Sarajevo from 1991 to 1993. Through the eyes of an eleven-year-old, we witness the harrowing siege by Bosnian Serbs, chronicling years of unrelenting fear and hardship.

Cultural Parallels

D. H. Lawrence cherished Mexican Indian culture with the same fervor that West felt for the Serbs. His Mornings in Mexico (1927) narrates his Mexican journeys with vivid passion and insight, mirroring the deep engagement West experienced during her Yugoslavian explorations.