RR 2014/199 Central and South-Eastern Europe 2014 (14th edition)

摘要

This is a databook: a fat tome into which Routledge have packed a million facts. It is mainly for reference. My initial impression is that if you approach the book for concrete bits of information on any one of the 18 east European countries covered, you have a good chance of coming away satisfied: a key date, a statistic, an up-to-date reading list (English works only), the phone number or address of a public body or the name of high official. If you were writing to the President of Montenegro or ringing the editor of Blesk, a Prague daily ("Lightning"), or making a complaint to the Director-General of Serbian railways, a quick dip into this book would be just the thing. Overcoming the language barrier would be a different matter of course. Beyond the bald facts, which readers should be able to find without any trouble, they might then wish to broaden their knowledge by lingering on the miniature essays which the book contains: each country section has a piece on recent history and another on the contemporary economy (5,000-8,000 words each).