Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe

“In her relentless quest for understanding, Applebaum shines light into forgotten worlds of human hope, suffering and dignity.” — The Washington Post

“The interleaved surveys of the region’s history [are] sweeping and elegantly-written.” — The Independent (UK)

“Applebaum’s receptiveness encourages borderlanders to tell her the myriad of ways that political partitioning has subjugated their personal lives, cultural traditions and languages.” — Publishers Weekly

“Achieves both specificity and readability.” — The New York Times

“Ms. Applebaum offers us windows into the lives of the men and sometimes women who constructed the police states of Eastern Europe. She gives us a glimpse of those who resisted. But she also gives us a harrowing portrait of the rest–the majority of Eastern Europe’s population, who, having been caught up in the continent’s conflicts time and time again, now found themselves pawns in a global one.” — The Wall Street Journal

“Applebaum wants to give flesh to a concept.” — New Yorker

“She is a terrific writer, rare among regional experts. . . . Applebaum possesses an overarching vision of what occurred in Eastern Europe.” — Christian Science Monitor

“Her researches have led her radically to reappraise some of the most basic historical assumptions made in the West.” — Evening Standard (UK)

“Applebaum [has the] ability to take a dense and complex subject, replete with communist acronyms and impenetrable jargon, and make it not only informative but enjoyable–and even occasionally witty.” — The Telegraph (UK)