[An] elegantly layered exploration of Europe’s past and future . . . a multifaceted
masterpiece.”—The Wall Street JournalA lovely personal journey around the Adriatic in which
Robert Kaplan revisits places and peoples he first encountered decades ago.”—Peter Frankopan
author of The Silk Roads ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker In this insightful
travelogue Robert D. Kaplan geopolitical expert and bestselling author of Balkan Ghosts and
The Revenge of Geography turns his perceptive eye to a region that for centuries has been a
meeting point of cultures trade and ideas. He undertakes a journey around the Adriatic Sea
through Italy Slovenia Croatia Montenegro Albania and Greece to reveal that far more is
happening in the region than most news stories let on. Often overlooked the Adriatic is in
fact at the center of the most significant challenges of our time including the rise of
populist politics the refugee crisis and battles over the control of energy resources. And it
is once again becoming a global trading hub that will determine Europe’s relationship with the
rest of the world as China and Russia compete for dominance in its ports. Kaplan explores how
the region has changed over his three decades of observing it as a journalist. He finds that to
understand both the historical and contemporary Adriatic is to gain a window on the future of
Europe as a whole and he unearths a stark truth: The era of populism is an epiphenomenon—a
symptom of the age of nationalism coming to an end. Instead the continent is returning to
alignments of the early modern era as distinctions between East and West meet and break down
within the Adriatic countries and ultimately throughout Europe. With a brilliant
cross-pollination of history literature art architecture and current events in Adriatic
Kaplan demonstrates that this unique region that exists at the intersection of civilizations
holds revelatory truths for the future of global affairs.
