This week 'Missing Lives' is published in London, written by Rory McLean and illustrated by Nick Danziger, its launch is marked by a month-long outdoor exhibition on the South Bank (Gabriel’s Wharf).

The book — and exhibition -- tell the true stories of 15 families whose loved ones went missing during the Yugoslav wars. ‘Missing Lives’ tells of the tragedy of the disappearance of tens of thousands of Europeans — usually civilians -- during the Yugoslav wars. In a desperate need for news, their families prayed for a message, begged for the truth and fell for blackmail.  In almost every case, the missing had been murdered.  But without word, witness or body, the bereaved could not accept their loss. Their torment was drawn out as long as ten, even eighteen years – for many it continues still.  Children waited for parents to return from the grave.  Mothers made up their dead son’s beds.  Old men couldn't bury their descendants.  The living also lost their lives.

For the first time in war DNA has been used to match blood and bone, reuniting families divided by death, enabling survivors to find closure and to begin to live again.  These fifteen, heartbreaking Balkan stories represent a tiny proportion of an immense tragedy.  The book tries to give a voice to the unacknowledged suffering of these families, to all who went missing by force, and reminds us that in war – whatever the technological advances -- there is no greater loss than the disappearance of those we love.

The publisher's profile of 'Missing Lives' appears here: