Author(s): Robert D. Kaplan

History

Robert Kaplan first visited Romania in the 1970s, when he was a young journalist and the country was a bleak Communist backwater. It was one of the darkest corners of Europe, but few Westerners were paying attention. What ensued was a lifelong obsession with a critical, often overlooked country - a country that, today, is key to understanding the current threat that Russia poses to Europe. In 'Europe's Shadow' is a vivid blend of memoir, travelogue, journalism, and history, a masterly work 30 years in the making - the story of a journalist coming of age, and a country struggling to do the same. Through the lens of one country, Kaplan examines larger questions of geography, imperialism, the role of fate in international relations, the Cold War, the Holocaust, and more.