In Europe's Shadow

A riveting and timely account of Romania past and present, of a decades-long obsession with one country, and of the fate of Europe in the age of Vladimir Putin from the bestselling author of Balkan Ghosts. Robert Kaplan first visited Romania in the 1970s, when he was a young journalist and the country was a bleak Communist backwater. What ensued was a lifelong fascination with a critical, often-overlooked country. This is a vivid blend of memoir,...
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A riveting and timely account of Romania past and present, of a decades-long obsession with one country, and of the fate of Europe in the age of Vladimir Putin from the bestselling author of Balkan Ghosts.

Robert Kaplan first visited Romania in the 1970s, when he was a young journalist and the country was a bleak Communist backwater. What ensued was a lifelong fascination with a critical, often-overlooked country.

This is a vivid blend of memoir, travelogue, journalism, and history. Kaplan illuminates the history and culture of Romania while also telling a personal story about his own intellectual development.

And it's a bigger story about Europe- geography, imperialism, the question of fate in international relations, the Cold War, the Holocaust, and more.

Kaplan began this book well before Russia sparked a new Cold War with its aggression in Ukraine. Romania is a metaphor for Europe's current challenge in confronting Putin, and this is the book you must read to truly understand the crisis with Russia.