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Capitals Cities of Eastern Europe

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXEUR688. Buy these 5 items as a set for $85 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Lonely Planet Eastern Europe

Lonely Planet Eastern Europe

by Lonely Planet

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 1028 PAGES

This practical guide includes Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic as well as the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and the Balkans. (EUR72, $29.99)

The Magic Lantern, The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague

The Magic Lantern, The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague

by Timothy Garton Ash

  • HISTORY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 167 PAGES

With a chapter each on Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin and Prague, this eyewitness account by an astute journalist and historian shows these vibrant cities during a time of great change. (GER36, $15.00)

Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History

Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History

by Robert D. Kaplan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 307 PAGES

Kaplan interweaves the history, art and culture of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece with his travels in this portrait of the region. (BLK02, $17.00)

Prague, A Traveler's Literary Companion

Prague, A Traveler's Literary Companion

by Paul Wilson

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

This anthology of 24 vivid stories by Czech writers, contemporary and well-known, brings the city, history history, spirit and people to life and includes a helpful map for the traveler. (CZH08, $14.95)

Eastern Europe Map

Eastern Europe Map

by Freytag & Berndt

  • MAP

A detailed travel map of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea, at a scale of 1:2,000,000. (EUR36, $14.95)

 
Bradt Guide Bulgaria

Bradt Guide Bulgaria


by Annie Kay

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A practical guide to Bulgaria, with a strong focus on nature and activities, and an extended section on Sofia. Timed to be published in conjuction with Bulgaria's joining of the European Union. (BGR07, $23.99)

Eyewitness Guide Cracow

Eyewitness Guide Cracow


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 264 PAGES

Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this superb guide includes color photography, easy-to-use maps and top attractions (PLD54, $25.00)

Eyewitness Guide Prague

Eyewitness Guide Prague


by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

This superb guide features color photography, dozens of excellent maps and a district-by-district synopsis of the celebrated city's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (CZH01, $25.00)

Rough Guide Romania

Rough Guide Romania


by Rough Guide

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

An informative, up-to-date guide, combining general information on the country with practical travel details. (EUR144, $23.99)

A Concise History of Bulgaria

A Concise History of Bulgaria


by R.J. Crampton

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 287 PAGES

A highly readable, illustrated introduction to Bulgaria's history from medieval empire to Ottoman rule, revival and modernization, to the fall of Communism. (BGR01, $30.99)

Bury Me Standing

Bury Me Standing


by Isabel Fonseca

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 322 PAGES

This marvelous portrait of the Roma, also known as the Gypsies, offers insight into their music, foods, religions and folk traditions, and also examines their influential but complex relationship with Eastern Europe. (EUR09, $14.95)

In Search of Dracula

In Search of Dracula


by Raymond McNally

  • HISTORY
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 297 PAGES

This history of Vlad Tepes (AKA Vlad the Impaler), the Romanian warrior prince upon whom Bram Stoker based his infamous blood-drinking count, draws on oral histories and archaeological evidence and also examines Dracula's many incarnations in film and literature. (EUR193, $18.95)

Kingdom of Auschwitz

Kingdom of Auschwitz


by Otto Friedrich

  • HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

Otto Friedrich's slim book is an intensely personal account of the infamous Auschwitz death camp. He covers the entire history of Auschwitz in short chapters punctuated with eyewitness accounts and testimonies. (PLD04, $11.00)

Prague in Black and Gold, Scenes from Life in a European City

Prague in Black and Gold, Scenes from Life in a European City


by Peter Demetz

  • HISTORY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

Both a history and accessible guide to the neighborhoods and architecture of the city. (CZH09, $17.95)

The Haunted Land, Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism

The Haunted Land, Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism


by Tina Rosenberg

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 437 PAGES

In this groundbreaking book, a journalist reports on how the newly democratized people of East Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have confronted the horrors of their former governments. (EUR54, $17.95)

The Polish Way, A Thousand Year History of the Poles and Their Culture

The Polish Way, A Thousand Year History of the Poles and Their Culture


by Adam Zamoyski

  • HISTORY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 422 PAGES

An excellent overview of Polish culture and history, comprehensive, engaging and balanced. Zamoyski focuses especially on the period 1400-1800, writing with flair and authority about the origins of Polish nationhood. With maps and illustrations throughout. (PLD03, $22.50)

Between the Woods and the Water

Between the Woods and the Water


by Patrick Leigh Fermor

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

Fermor continues with youthful adventures in Hungary and Romania, culminating with his arrival at the Iron Gates on the Danube. (CEU31, $15.95)

The Struggle and the Triumph, An Autobiography

The Struggle and the Triumph, An Autobiography


by Lech Walesa

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 330 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

The inside story of the Solidarity movement by the man who made it happen. Walesa draws a detailed portrait of his rise from the Gdansk shipyards to become the first freely elected president of Poland. (PLD05, $20.99)

The Zookeeper's Wife

The Zookeeper's Wife


by Diane Ackerman

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

A marvelous storyteller, Ackerman recalls madcap, bohemian Warsaw before WWII, the devastation of the city by Nazi bombs in 1939, the horrors of the holocaust and heroic efforts in the resistance in this moving tale of Antonina and Jan Zabinski, directors of Warsaw Zoo. (PLD70, $14.95)

Transylvania and Beyond

Transylvania and Beyond


by Dervla Murphy

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1995
  • HARD COVER
  • 239 PAGES

Murphy spent eight months among the people of Transylvania, soaking up their stories and their thoughts on life in modern Romania. (EUR98, $21.95)

Poland

Poland


by James Michener

  • LITERATURE
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 616 PAGES

In his epic style, Michener presents the sweep of Polish history from the earliest days to 1983 in this massively researched novel. An excellent choice for the airplane. (PLD02, $7.99)

Shosha

Shosha


by Isaac Bashevis Singer

  • LITERATURE
  • 1996
  • PAPER

A powerful novel of love set in the Jewish quarter of Warsaw as World War II erupts around the protagonists. (PLD18, $15.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.