My mention in the Times has led to various old friends getting back in touch, including Adam LeBor.

Adam knows his Balkans and has written a much praised book about the rise and fall of Slobodan Milosevic: 

I especially recommend the quote from the ‘senior British diplomat’ on p. 308 in the hard-back edition.

He also has written many good books about intrigues and double-dealings at the UN and elsewhere. And see his first novel, The Budapest Protocol:

Nazi-occupied Budapest, winter 1944. The Russians are smashing through the German lines. Miklos Farkas breaks out of the Jewish ghetto to find food – at the Nazis’ headquarters. There he is handed a stolen copy of The Budapest Protocol, detailing the Nazis post-war plans. Miklos knows it must stay hidden for ever if he is to stay alive. 

The book jumps to present day Budapest. As the European Union launches the election campaign for the first President of Europe, Miklos Farkas is brutally murdered. His journalist grandson Alex buries his grief to track down the killers. He soon unravels a chilling conspiracy rooted in the dying days of the Third Reich, one that will ensure Nazi economic domination of Europe – and a plan for a new Gypsy Holocaust…

Lots more at his website: https://www.adamlebor.com/

Another writer cum Balkan expert is Misha Glenny, who has used his many insights into Balkan organised crime to look at the global role of top-end criminality ("Very Organised Crime") and its impact on politics: 

Read on.