In this engrossing and timely book, Tony White explores both South Eastern Europe itself, and the Western European fascination with "the Balkans". Following in the footsteps of Rebecca West--whose engaging and seminal travelogue Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: a journey through Yugoslavia, was published in 1945 and is still considered a masterpiece--in addition to other key contemporary writers and commentators, White paints vivid and revealing pictures of the cultural lives and landscapes in this fascinating region; drawing on the views and ideas he finds there, and extensive interviews with politicians, writers, and artists. The Balkans are often unjustly depicted as a barbarous bridge between Europe and Asia, a territory that just can't help itself. Even sympathetic Western European writers have often "taken sides" in the way they've depicted this astonishing part of the world. White has gone in search of humor and humanity, as well as the historical background to these common misconceptions--though all the while he's conscious that he may well be just another fool in the Balkans.