Black cloth binding with gold lettering. Spotting inside front and back covers on end papers and flyleaf. Spotting to edge of pages. Pages themselves clean and free of any markings. Some spotting on the cloth cover and a warped spot on the front under the A where the cover has bubbled up from the board. Solid binding. The jacket is present but has some soiling and when removed from the book, the inside has extensive spotting. The front hinge of the jacket has wear all along the edge and splitting, but had not torn free yet. The jacket has several small chips along the edge and a short 1/4" tear along the top edge. There is a 1" tear along the bottom edge. 560 indexed pages 9.5" X 6.5" X 2". Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn -author, lecturer, painter, and globetrotter extraordinary- hosts this fascinating armchair expedition through the European labyrinth. This book is a must for any American planning a trip to Europe or simply desiring to know more about the old world, this is not another sightseeing guide for tours. Von Kuehnelt-Leddihn concentrates on the people, not the monuments, of 33 countries from Andorra to Yugoslavia - every country in Europe both East and west of the Iron Curtain. With the same flair for anecdote that has made him famous on the lecture circuit. He tells us all about the continent: it's geography, politics, social classes, education, religion, economics. Von Kuehnelt-Leddihn has written a book for the American audience from the perspective of a man who likes Americans. Indeed, he is one of the few Europeans who really understands America. He lived there here for years and comes back annually to tour and to lecture. "I'm writing this book" von Kuehnelt-Leddihn writes "out of the conviction that Americans and Englishmen need a clear view of the Continent for their own and (even more so) for our benefit. The reader has my apologies for the outspokenness of my views, but at least he will soon realize that they do not beat around the bush. I hate to insinuate. I like to say things bluntly unless I'm being ironical; only then do I believe understatements are in order. At this juncture of history, it is too late to be fastidiously prudent. My good American and British friends have always valued my sincerity. And sincerity rather than delicacy is one of the marks of a Christian. -Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn wrote for the National Review for 35 years, as well as Freeman, Chronicles, Thought, the Rothbard-Rockwell Report, Catholic World, and Farmand in support of monarchism, liberal conservatism, and that republics were superior to democracies. Arlington House Publishers 1979
