Fluent in Serbo-Croat, Stankovic (known as "Mike Stanley" in the Army) acted as go-between for General Mike Rose (commander of Britain's UN force) and the Bosnian Serb leaders Mladic and Karadzic (who hated each other). His arrest by MoD police in 1997 came as a thunderbolt.

Fuelled by outrage at his arrest in December 1997 by MoD police, Milos Stankovic, a major in the Parachute Regiment of the British Army and the son of a Royalist Serb, decided to write his extraordinary story: a dramatic tale of life on the edge in war-ravaged Bosnia. Because of his fluency in Serbo-Croat, Stankovic (known as "Mike Stanley" in the Army) acted as the high-powered go-between for General Mike Rose (commander of Britain's UN force) and the Bosnian Serb leaders Mladic and Karadzic (who hated each other). Shuttling between the two camps, he played a crucial part in securing the release of UN hostages and in establishing ceasefire accords. His life was constantly at risk; nevertheless, with Rose's full support, he ran a 'Schindler's List' operation, smuggling families (Serb, Croat or Muslim) out of besieged Sarajevo. His arrest came as a thunderbolt. What lay behind it will be revealed in the book and will ignite an international controversy.