Between East & West

 

Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe by Anne Applebaum was written by the author during her travels in Eastern Europe right after the fall of the Soviet Union. Appelbaum was young at the time, and her youth is reflected in the tone of this book.  She spends a great deal of time showing the people she interacts with within in a negative, even ludicrous light.  After decades of communism, the people she meets are beaten down and ignorant of the wider world.  Applebaum does not write their stories in light of this fact; she lacks compassion and understanding.  She is, however, an excellent writer, and the stories she tells are compelling, even if they are unfair.  The world she visited is long gone, even if many of its problems still remain.