The Quest for Radovan Karadzic - Nick Hawton

One man’s hunt for a notorious war criminal uncovers a murky world of intrigue, murder and dirty deals, as well as the innocent victims of one of the darker episodes of recent history.

For more than a decade Europe’s most wanted man, Radovan Karadzic, evaded the combined efforts of western intelligence agencies, NATO peacekeepers, Hague investigators and maverick bounty hunters to track him down. When everyone else seemed to have given up the hunt, one journalist doggedly followed his trail, travelling from the snow-capped mountains of Montenegro to the killing fields of eastern Bosnia and the corridors of power in Belgrade, in search of the man accused of some of the most horrific crimes committed in Europe since the Second World War. Karadzic, himself, travelled around with apparent impunity, even making public appearances on TV in his new persona as a guru of alternative medicine.

On his journey into the dark heart of Balkan politics and crime, the author met secret intelligence agents who tried to recruit him, got to know the Karadzic family in their home in Bosnia, and interviewed the Serbian politicians who held the levers of power. He also met the widows who had lost everything in the maelstrom of the Bosnian war that Radovan Karadzic had helped to spark.

This is a rare and gripping journey through the looking glass into the murky world of international politics and espionage.