576 SEER, 87, 3, JULY 200Q Port,Andrew I. Conflict andStability intheGerman Democratic Republic, Cambridge University Press,Cambridgeand New York, 2007. xix + 303 pp. Illustrations. Tables. Notes.Primary sources.Index.¿45.00: $80.00. Life in the GermanDemocraticRepublic (GDR) is commonly perceived to havebeen markedbya strong senseofcommunity and solidarity. Whilst thisis a perception whichmayhavebeenbolstered bynostalgic overtones in recent years, socialcohesionamongst certain sectors ofsociety particularly workers' collectives - has been thefocusofa numberof scholarly studies of the GDR. In his recentmonograph, however,AndrewPort does just theopposite:he highlights thedivisions and frictions amongsttheworking population, suggesting thatitwas precisely thelackofsocialsolidarity which enabledtherelative longevity oftheregime, fortheabsenceofstrong social cohesionprevented theformation ofpotentially destabilizing popularmovements .In contrast to numerous studieswhichhave investigated thevertical relationship between'state' and 'society'in the GDR, Port thusfocuses largelyon thehorizontal relationship betweenEast Germans,an approach whichis indicative ofthemoveawayfrom totalitarian interpretations ofthe GDR towards morecomplexunderstandings ofsocietalrelations and social control. Despitethesuggestively broadnatureofthetitleConflict andStability inthe German Democratic Republic, thisstudy infactfocuses on theThuringian administrative district of Saalfeldbetween1945and 1971.Inevitably, perhaps,the projectof examining horizontal relations betweenworkers requiresa more focused approach - butthisshouldnotbe seenas limiting. Portsuccessfully useshiscase study tohelpexplaintheprecarious stability oftheGDR regime as a whole,particularly during itsearlierdecades.He structures hismaterial in twoparts,thefirst ofwhichexamineseventsin Saalfeldchronologically between1945and 1953,and thesecondofwhichadoptsa thematic approach after1953.Whilst thiswouldsuggest thathe placesthe1953uprisings at the heartofhisthesis, thesituation in Saalfeldwas rather unusualinthisrespect, fortheregionexperienced a miners' strike in 1951- presented as theGDR's 'first strike'.This eventbore manysimilarities to the uprisings two years later, particularly inthewaytheregime reacted.Indeed,Portusesbothearly uprisings to demonstrate thatrepression was nottheonly(orevenprincipal) response oftheauthorities to protest, butthattheintroduction ofcorrective measures and 'carrots ofsocialpacification' (p. 69) wereequallyas important in regaining a senseofstability. Based on theassumption thatrepression and thefearofrepression alone couldnotstifle popularunrest, and thuscouldnotensuredomestic tranquillitywithinthe GDR, parttwo examinesa numberof otherfactors which accountedforthelackofmassuprisings during ensuing decades.Portfocuses primarily on industrial workers, who formedthe large part of Saalfeld's population, finding thatinternal frictions, whether caused by rivalbrigades and 'shift selfishness', genderdiscrimination, competition forbetter housing, resentment towards other'classes'orsimply poormoraleamongst workers, all worked towards undermining worker solidarity - and indoingso,promoted reviews 577 domestic stability. The chapter dedicated tofarmers finds similar tensions, and as Portargues,itwas theendemicscarcity ofsupplies whichwas a keyfactor in undermining socialsolidarity, forthegrasswas alwaysseento be greener elsewhere.As the authorities were forcedto juggle theirpriorities, some individuals or groupswereinevitably favoured overothers, and perceptions of materialdisparity were only heightened. It should be noted that the willingness of local officials to accommodatethe demandsof workers and farmers was also key in sustaining the stability of the so-called'grumble Gesellschaft ,as manyofficials wenttogreatlengths toavoidopenconfrontation withtheir charges. The questionas towhytheGDR existed forso longisonewhichhasbeen posedrepeatedly in recentyears.Portprovidesa compelling and eloquently written argument whichbringsus closerto understanding the precarious stability oftheGDR and thehighly nuancedinternal workings oftheregime. Despite the lack of bibliography, the detailednotesprovidean exhaustive selection ofsecondary reading, and thebroadercontext is clearly outlined for readerswitha less detailedknowledge ofthe GDR. Whilstthisstudyends in 1 971 - and focuses largely on theearlieryearsoftheUlbricht era - it provides valuableinsight intothecomplexities oflifeintheGDR, andsuggests important linesofenquiry foritslateryears. Bangor University Anna Saunders Laughland,John. Travesty: The TrialofSlobodan Milosevic and theCorruption ofInternational Justice. Witha foreword by RamseyClark. Pluto Press, Londonand AnnArbor,MI, 2007.xiii+ 240pp. Notes.Index.£14.99: $24.95:€22.00(paperback). RamseyClark, former United StatesAttorney-General, encapsulatesthe importance ofthisbook,and thejudicialprocessitanalyses, in hisforeword. He arguesthatthe establishment of the International CriminalTribunal fortheformer Yugoslavia(ICTY) bytheUN Security Councilwas a fundamentalcorruption of international law, an ad hoc executiveorderwhich undermined the primary purposeof the UN preventing war. Instead, thelanguageofinternational law became a toolto legitimize theaggressive interventionist policyof the US and its allies in the Balkans in the late 1990s. This was nowheremore starkly highlighted than in the indictment of Slobodan Milosevicon 27 May 1999,two monthsintoNATO's bombing campaign againstYugoslavia,undertakenwithoutUN SecurityCouncil authorization. International lawwas notjustcorrupted butusedtolegitimize and justify an illegalwar ofaggression. Fromthestart, theICTY and the indictment ofMilosevic weredriven bypartial political concerns. The interestdriven ,instrumental use and abuse of international law, was given full autonomy in thepowersgivento thejudgesto ruleon their ownpowersand procedures. ...