--- product_id: 12882461 title: "Eastern Europe!: Everything You Need to Know About the History (and More) of a Region that Shaped Our World and Still Does" price: "€ 3.43" currency: EUR in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pt/products/12882461-eastern-europe-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-history store_origin: PT region: Portugal --- # Eastern Europe!: Everything You Need to Know About the History (and More) of a Region that Shaped Our World and Still Does **Price:** € 3.43 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Eastern Europe!: Everything You Need to Know About the History (and More) of a Region that Shaped Our World and Still Does - **How much does it cost?** € 3.43 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pt](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/12882461-eastern-europe-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-history) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description When the legendary Romulus killed his brother Remus and founded the city of Rome in 753 BCE, Plovdiv―today the second-largest city in Bulgaria―was thousands of years old. Indeed, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam are all are mere infants compared to Plovdiv. This is just one of the paradoxes that haunts and defines the New Europe, that part of Europe that was freed from Soviet bondage in 1989, and which is at once both much older than the modern Atlantic-facing power centers of Western Europe while also being much younger than them. Eastern Europe! is a brief and concise (but informative) introduction to Eastern Europe and its myriad customs and history. Even those knowledgeable about Western Europe often see Eastern Europe as terra incognito, with a sign on the border declaring “Here be monsters.” Tomek Jankowski's book is a gateway to understanding both what unites and separates Eastern Europeans from their Western brethren, and how this vital region has been shaped by but has also left its mark on Western Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. It is a reader-friendly guide to a region that is all too often mischaracterized as remote, insular, and superstitious. The book comprises three parts, The first sums up modern linguistic, geographic, and religious contours of Eastern Europe, while the second, main part delves into the region's history, from the earliest origins of Europe up to the end of the Cold War. Closing the book is a section that makes sense of geographical name references -- many cities, rivers, or regions have different names -- and also includes an "Eastern Europe by Numbers" feature that provides charts describing the populations, politics, and economies of the region today. Throughout are boxed-off anecdotes ("Useless Trivia") describing fascinating aspects of Eastern European history or culture. Review: A Surprise! - The surprise here is that this book is interesting, fun sometimes and reads quickly. All that good stuff. And, it's not just for the specialty reader. Jankowski fills the pages with things we definitely should know and things we could live without--- but are interesting nonetheless. These extraneous tidbits break up the "history" with a bit of trivia. I wanted to read this because recently I had been reading "American" authors of Eastern European background ( Aleksandar Hemon is one), and I thought that I knew next to nothing about Eastern Europe. I was right! I started in the middle of this book ( You can start anywhere.) reading about the Second World War. My college European history had done me no good. I found out that I didn't even know that between 48 and 70 million were killed during the war! Warsaw was destroyed almost completely. ( Paris was on the chopping block and escaped decimation because Hitler was disobeyed toward the end of the war.) As alluded to above , this book can be read randomly. The charts and graphs that accompany the text are wonderful and give a really good idea of the total picture of Eastern Europe while highlighting individual countries. This can, and will, be used as a reference book over and over again. Some of the facts are just too much to subsume in one or two readings; it's packed with information--- up to date information. What a way to learn about the past with Jankowski's easy-flowing writing! Review: Highly Educational and Entertaining - Readers of a certain age tend to wax leery of titles with exclamation points and the phrase "Everything You Need To Know..." about anything, but in Jankowski's case it would be well to overcome any hesitation and jump right in. The payback is education and entertainment in about equal helpings. Jankowski is dead-on right in his estimation that the majority of even reasonably well-educated Americans are pretty much dirt-ignorant of Eastern Europe beyond the names of a few post-WWI political entities. The swirl of languages and ethnicities in the region over the past 3000 or so years is daunting to say the least. Jankowski is masterful at organizing and presenting the major name brands and milestones in a well-organized and quick-paced narrative. He wears his learning lightly and is effective at preventing a predictable descent into the catalog of names, dates, and battles that the region's past could easily comprise. The in-line pronunciation help is a techniques that should be mandatory in such works. If I had a quibble it would be that the "Useless Trivia" sidebars should be renamed - their content is far from useless in the context and frequently help the reader orient himself with more comfortable territory by connecting the unfamiliar names, places, etc. with "the west" (with which he is presumably better acquainted, but who knows?) A very valuable and thoroughly enjoyable book, recommended for anyone who wants or needs to know more about the fascinating region, its peoples, languages and cultures. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,800,738 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #136 in General Poland Travel Guides #2,982 in Russian History (Books) #28,229 in European History (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 203 Reviews | ## Images ![Eastern Europe!: Everything You Need to Know About the History (and More) of a Region that Shaped Our World and Still Does - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81BnyhwOhUL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Surprise! *by J***S on February 10, 2014* The surprise here is that this book is interesting, fun sometimes and reads quickly. All that good stuff. And, it's not just for the specialty reader. Jankowski fills the pages with things we definitely should know and things we could live without--- but are interesting nonetheless. These extraneous tidbits break up the "history" with a bit of trivia. I wanted to read this because recently I had been reading "American" authors of Eastern European background ( Aleksandar Hemon is one), and I thought that I knew next to nothing about Eastern Europe. I was right! I started in the middle of this book ( You can start anywhere.) reading about the Second World War. My college European history had done me no good. I found out that I didn't even know that between 48 and 70 million were killed during the war! Warsaw was destroyed almost completely. ( Paris was on the chopping block and escaped decimation because Hitler was disobeyed toward the end of the war.) As alluded to above , this book can be read randomly. The charts and graphs that accompany the text are wonderful and give a really good idea of the total picture of Eastern Europe while highlighting individual countries. This can, and will, be used as a reference book over and over again. Some of the facts are just too much to subsume in one or two readings; it's packed with information--- up to date information. What a way to learn about the past with Jankowski's easy-flowing writing! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Educational and Entertaining *by D***L on December 1, 2015* Readers of a certain age tend to wax leery of titles with exclamation points and the phrase "Everything You Need To Know..." about anything, but in Jankowski's case it would be well to overcome any hesitation and jump right in. The payback is education and entertainment in about equal helpings. Jankowski is dead-on right in his estimation that the majority of even reasonably well-educated Americans are pretty much dirt-ignorant of Eastern Europe beyond the names of a few post-WWI political entities. The swirl of languages and ethnicities in the region over the past 3000 or so years is daunting to say the least. Jankowski is masterful at organizing and presenting the major name brands and milestones in a well-organized and quick-paced narrative. He wears his learning lightly and is effective at preventing a predictable descent into the catalog of names, dates, and battles that the region's past could easily comprise. The in-line pronunciation help is a techniques that should be mandatory in such works. If I had a quibble it would be that the "Useless Trivia" sidebars should be renamed - their content is far from useless in the context and frequently help the reader orient himself with more comfortable territory by connecting the unfamiliar names, places, etc. with "the west" (with which he is presumably better acquainted, but who knows?) A very valuable and thoroughly enjoyable book, recommended for anyone who wants or needs to know more about the fascinating region, its peoples, languages and cultures. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Entertaining and informative, this is a great book *by D***C on May 10, 2017* History books can be very dry, especially when covering long periods of time many countries and large geographic areas. This one is not. Written in a light and entertaining style, it nevertheless more than adequately covers huge territory, both in a physical and historical sense. My wife had read a couple of books about Eastern/Central Europe before starting this one. Her response was immediate: "Thank God for something you can actually read and enjoy". The book is organized for major historical periods, and then broken down by area. This is helpful, especially since what is happening in one area may be unrelated to events in another. Or not. It just depends on the time. But at the end of each section the reader should have a good idea of the events transpiring in all the areas. This may seem trivial but it's actually quite a feat. In addition there are small interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout the sections -- like a short narrative about "Wojtek the Bear" (a real bear) who served as an official soldier with the free Polish army during the Italian Campaign of 1943-1944. My only quibble is I would have liked more maps for each period since I'm not familiar with all the geographic areas. But this is a small point. Overall this is a great book. Highly recommended. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pt/products/12882461-eastern-europe-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-history](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/12882461-eastern-europe-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-history) --- *Product available on Desertcart Portugal* *Store origin: PT* *Last updated: 2026-10-21*