In this new collection essays, Matthew Stevenson weaves together a historical tapestry of the last hundred years. From the battlefields of Gallipoli and those around Armenia, to Cold War Washington and modern Beirut, he has written a compelling, yet often humorous and always accessible account of persons and places encountered in his travels.

In these essays, Stevenson, with wit and insight, describes crossing Poland by bicycle, the countries of former Yugoslavia, visiting the battlefields of Okinawa, and Albania's brave new world (?the province of pyramid schemes and stolen cars?). He explores the myths of Omaha Beach and Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (?a war movie by a guy who has seen a lot of war movies?). When in New York after September 11, he recalls his earlier visits to Asian battlefields (?the skeletal frame of the Trade Center evokes the dome at Hiroshima?)