In Europe's Shadow

[A] haunting yet ultimately optimistic examination of the human condition as found in Romania . . . The author delves into the ancient roots of Romania's culture and religion. . . . [Robert D.] Kaplan's account of the centuries leading up to the most turbulent of all--the twentieth--is both sweeping and replete with alluring detail. . . . The rich characters who wander through these pages . . . dispense wisdom from book-lined homes, cafes, or chapels old and new. . . . Kaplan's Romania offers lessons on the value of malleability, and what endures. --Alison Smale, The New York Times Book Review This book reveals the confident, poetical Kaplan . . . but also a reflective, political Kaplan, seeking at times to submerge his gift for romantic generalization in respectful attention to the ideas of others. That tension--between an aesthetic sense of wholeness and the intellectual acceptance of complexity--is the real subject of the book, both as autobiography and as geopolitics. --Timothy Snyder, The Washington Post A serious yet impassioned survey of Romania . . . [Kaplan's] method is that of a foreign correspondent, firing off dispatches from the South China Sea to North Yemen to the darkest corners of Eastern Europe when it was still Iron Curtain country, and his approach has a Thucydidean texture: a gimlet-eyed realism as gathered by evidence, and guided by an understanding that the knee-jerk of history is self-interest. . . . Kaplan is a regional geographer par excellence--undeniably, whatever you think of his conclusions--a big-picture man. --The Christian Science Monitor Kaplan is one of America's foremost writers on the region. . . . In a series of deep dives into the region's past--Byzantine, Ottoman, Habsburg and Soviet--he finds parallels and echoes that help us understand the present. --The Wall Street Journal Kaplan moves seamlessly from sights, sounds, and conversations to the resonance of history. . . . In Kaplan's hands, Romania emerges as no mere footnote, but as a historical and political pivot. --Foreign Affairs Kaplan's work exemplifies rare intellectual, moral and political engagement with the political order--and disorder--of our world. . . . Kaplan's writing is like the places he visits. It's a terrain, a concentrated expression of a particular part of the world as he sees it. . . . In Europe's Shadow amounts to a kind of historical anthropology plus geopolitics, a deep study of a particular country and people. . . . It shows how, at one and the same time, Romania is distinctive and a key to a broader and deeper understanding of contemporary Europe. --The Huffington Post Kaplan's is travel writing at its contemporary finest, weaving in the sights and sounds of a faraway land alongside interviews with its philosophers and politicians. . . . [In Europe's Shadow] provides an incisive, tactile introduction to the politics and potential prospects of Central and Southeastern Europe--a region that finds itself once again caught in the headwinds of history. --RealClearWorld A masterly work of important history, analysis, and prophecy about the ancient and modern rise of Romania as a roundabout between Russia and Europe . . . I learned something new on every page. Robert D. Kaplan is a master. --Tom Brokaw A tour de force of cultural and political travel writing in which Romania's complex past and uncertain present become vivid and newly urgent. --Colin Thubron, author of Shadow of the Silk Road and co-editor of Patrick Leigh Fermor's The Broken Road Robert D. Kaplan has the remarkable ability to see over the geopolitical horizon, and he now turns his attention to Europe's marchlands--the former 'Greater Romania' lying between the Balkans and a resurgent Russia. In a triple journey through books, landscapes, and histories, he tackles the meaning of geography, the influence of intellectuals, and the daffiness--and power--of nationalism. . . . Timely, insightful, and deeply honest. --Charles King, professor of international affairs, Georgetown University, and author of Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul For an appreciation of contemporary Romanian attitudes, Robert Kaplan's book has no equal. As an outsider, yet within, the author offers an analysis of Romania that combines erudition and authority. His sparkling, suggestive reflections, drawing upon history and landscape, capture the DNA of the country and its inhabitants. --Dennis Deletant, Ion Ratiu Visiting Professor of Romanian Studies, Georgetown University, and emeritus professor, University College London A moving book--an illuminating and compassionate guide through the labyrinth of Romania's immensely convoluted and often traumatic past . . . In spite of the many dark, distressing moments that no one should ignore, In Europe's Shadow conveys a sense of hope, promise, and continuous renewal. --Vladimir Tismaneanu, professor of politics, University of Maryland, and author of The Devil in History: Communism, Fascism, and Some Lessons of the Twentieth Century Kaplan illuminates the extraordinary journey of the people of Romania, as well as millions of other East Europeans, from the tragic Soviet despotism of the decades after the Second World War to their more hopeful and democratic future as members of NATO and the European Union. Kaplan's ability to weave together complex histories, religion, memory, and political thought is nearly unmatched. --Nicholas Burns, professor, Harvard Kennedy School, and former undersecretary of state for political affairs A favorite of mine for years, Robert D. Kaplan is a thoughtful and insight-driven historian who writes clear and compelling prose, but what I like most about him is his political sophistication. In Europe's Shadow makes you look up and think about what's on the page--a true pleasure for the reader. --Alan Furst