“Entertaining…with eloquence and clarity…Mathews revels in providing gems of information that few will know”

-Financial Times

“Mathews expertly guides the reader through not only the sights and smells of the region, but its political and cultural layers…What travel writing is supposed to do”

-Robert Kaplan, author of Balkan Ghosts, The Loom of Time, Adriatic

“A sweeping, historically rich and provocative book”

-David Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker

“Mathews does travel writing reportage very well”

-Asian Review of Books