Last Days in Old Europe

If Oscar Wilde was correct that “history is gossip,” then Bassett serves up a delicious cocktail of the very best kind-polite, learned, and insightful, merely leavened with touches of history and geopolitics, making one thirsty for more. … A memoir can breathe life into history, and this is indeed Bassett’s achievement as he breathes new life into shattered kingdoms, their now-moldering cast of characters, and all of the fascinating stories that would otherwise vanish with them. – Kevin J. McNamara * Kirk Centre *
With these vivid, wistful memoirs, he joins the great chroniclers of Europe - the Prousts, Zweigs, Lampedusas, Leigh-Fermors and Bassanis * Economist *
A charming, imaginative and elegantly written memoir of his adventures in central Europe – Victor Sebestyen * Evening Standard *
A gem of a book … a charming and engaging memoir of a world now gone – Clovis Meath Baker * Standpoint *

After reading Law and the History of Art at Cambridge, Richard Bassett set out for Central Europe and in 1983 became principal horn of the National Slovene Opera House in Ljubljana.

In 1985 he was appointed Central European and then Eastern European correspondent for The Times. His previous books include:

• A Guide to Central Europe (1987)
• Hitler’s Spy Chief: The Wilhelm Canaris Mystery (2005)
• For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918 (2015)

He is a Bye-Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge, and Visiting Professor at the Central European University of Budapest. He is currently working on a biography of the Empress Maria Theresa.

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