On a summer morning in 1914, a teenage assassin named Gavrilo Princip fired not
just the opening shots of the First World War but the starting gun for modern hi
story, when he killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. A hundred years late
r, Tim Butcher undertakes an extraordinary journey to uncover the story of this
unknown boy who changed our world forever. By retracing Princip's journey from h
is highland birthplace, through the mythical valleys of Bosnia to the fortress c
ity of Belgrade and ultimately Sarajevo, he illuminates our understanding both o
f Princip and the places that shaped him while uncovering details about Princip
which have eluded historians for a century.
