Annoyingly objective, Robert Kaplan describes three different Romania(s) he encountered in his visits in the country in the '80,'90 and 2013. He creates a charming blend between, history, geopolitics, geography, religiousness and remarkably acute observations. He doesn't judge, is totally unbiased, his observations are realistically crude. The book is destined mostly to the western readers and probably not to the Romanian themselves, because who would like to see himself in a freshly polished mirror? He goes into the depths of history starting with the formation of the Romanian people until present day politicians, describing medieval historical figures, that probably mean nothing to westerners, but into which Romanians have always taken huge pride.
And one of the proudest is Mircea Eliade who believed that the West developed on the expense of Romanians, who all throughout Middle Ages were to busy to...