In Europe's Shadow cover art

In Europe's Shadow

Two Cold Wars and a Thirty-Year Journey Through Romania and Beyond

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

In Europe's Shadow

By: Robert D. Kaplan
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

In Bucharest, Romania's capital, Kaplan discovered that few Westerners were reporting on the country - one of the darkest corners of Europe during the Cold War. In an intense and cinematic travelogue, Kaplan explores the history and culture of the only country in the West where the leading intellectuals have been right-wing rather than left-wing; a country that gave rise to the dictator Ion Antonescu, Hitler's chief foreign accomplice during WWII; a country where the Latin West mixes with the Greek East, producing a fascinating fusion of cultures.

In Europe's Shadow is a deep and vivid immersion into one place, a country that is a metaphor for Europe's current challenge in confronting Vladimir Putin's Russia. With the brilliant, insightful Kaplan as our narrator and eyewitness, this book is a shorthand masterpiece about imperialism and a country critical to our understanding of the last century in Europe.

Robert D. Kaplan is the author of 16 books on foreign affairs and travel translated into many languages, including The Revenge of Geography, Monsoon, Balkan Ghosts, and Warrior Politics. He has been a foreign correspondent for The Atlantic for over three decades. In 2011, Foreign Policy magazine named Kaplan among the world's "100 Top Global Thinkers".

©2016 Robert D. Kaplan. Random House, an imprint of Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Eastern Europe Political Science Politics & Government Travel Writing & Commentary World Western Europe War Russia Imperialism Cold War Soviet Union Middle Ages Socialism Middle East Holocaust Self-Determination

Listeners also enjoyed...

Children of the Night cover art
Adriatic cover art
The Loom of Time cover art
Balkan Ghosts cover art
Monsoon cover art
Romanian History cover art
The Last Shah cover art
Putin's Wars cover art
Collapse cover art
The Thirty Years War cover art
A Failed Empire cover art
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich cover art
The Adventure of English cover art
American Prometheus cover art
The History of the Ancient World cover art
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia cover art
All stars
Most relevant
This is a super interesting and highly engaging history of Romania. For those who seek to understand the region and Europe a little better, this is an essential listen!

Super interesting!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Everyone interested in the Romanian history, every Romanian on Audiobook should listen to it. Written by someone who obviously loves Romania and it's people. Some uncomfortable truths, a geopolitical analysis of Romania's position in Europe.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Past, present and a possible future due to the geopolitical location of Romania. A book that you should read/listen even if you are the biggest Romanian nationalist!

The hard truth!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

clearly written by someone who knows and loves Romania. fascinating and easy to listen to.

Fascinating history lesson

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The book tells us a great deal of history and analysis, and that makes it a worthwhile read. It fills out the picture of a little understood region over the last half century. This is vital to grasping what is at stake in the present and near future for Europe.
The structure and the style do not meet the same standard. It often feels like a randomised like of historical facts, personal experience, too many references to other works and meetings with people along the way. This detracts from the intelligent analysis.
The reader handles non English names of people, places and titles disastrously. He tries hard to emphasize the foreignness but has done too little preparation to make a good job. Why he failed to check the pronunciation with an educated source is a mystery.

Interesting observations and interpretation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews