He creates a charming blend between history, geopolitics, geography, religion and remarkably acute observations. He doesn't judge, is totally unbiased, his observations are realistically crude.
The book is destined mostly to the western readers and probably not to the Romanian themselves, because who would like to see himself in a freshly polished mirror? He goes into the depths of history starting with the formation of the Romanian people until present day politicians, describing medieval historical figures, who probably mean nothing to westerners, but the Romanians have always taken huge pride in them.
And one of the proudest is Mircea Eliade who believed that the West developed on the expense of Romanians, who all throughout Middle Ages were too busy to fight the Ottoman Empire rather then spend time writing poetry, painting and discussing philosophy. Always attacked, always on defense the Romanians were too busy to survive and had no time to indulge into intangible aspects of life. The idea, that West developed under the protective shield of Romania, brings Kaplan on the verge of explosion and sends Romanians and Romania back to the dark corners of history from where it had the audacity to stick its head out.
Kaplan says that Romanians claiming to have influenced the West development in such an overwhelming manner is not only ridiculous but also inaccurate, because equally the same statement can be attributed to Russians who saved the North of Europe from the nomadic Mongolian tribes.
However, Kaplan forgets to mention some crucial aspects, the Mongolian Empire lasted about 150 years, whereas the Ottoman Empire lasted more than 600 years. Arguably, a mere fact of opportunity saved the West from the Mongol Horde. In 1241, Batu, Genghis Khan's grandson was making rapid advancement towards the western Europe, it was a matter of days if not hours until the Magyars would be defeated, but a messenger arrives in the Mongolian camp, Ogodai, Genghis Khan successor, had died. Almost instantly the Mongolians make a "U" turn and the fight for the succession of the largest empire was bound to commence. In the following years there will be sporadic invasions, but never reaching further than Transylvania or Serbia.
The siege of the Ottoman Empire was constant and the Romanian army, consisted mostly of untrained peasants, miraculously managed to keep a sort of independence towards the Ottoman Empire.
Romanians did provide a a buffer zone for the rest of the Europe and maybe it did offer a small respite to the West, but the West was a force in itself, with or without the Romanians, the Ottoman Empire would have not been able to defeat a far more trained and professionalized army with which the West would have faced them.
The West had its talent, history and legacy which enabled them to build an immense culture that has shaped the world until present day.
Kaplan says that Romanians claiming to have influenced the West development in such an overwhelming manner is not only ridiculous but also inaccurate, because equally the same statement can be attributed to Russians who saved the North of Europe from the nomadic Mongolian tribes.
However, Kaplan forgets to mention some crucial aspects, the Mongolian Empire lasted about 150 years, whereas the Ottoman Empire lasted more than 600 years. Arguably, a mere fact of opportunity saved the West from the Mongol Horde. In 1241, Batu, Genghis Khan's grandson was making rapid advancement towards the western Europe, it was a matter of days if not hours until the Magyars would be defeated, but a messenger arrives in the Mongolian camp, Ogodai, Genghis Khan successor, had died. Almost instantly the Mongolians make a "U" turn and the fight for the succession of the largest empire was bound to commence. In the following years there will be sporadic invasions, but never reaching further than Transylvania or Serbia.
The siege of the Ottoman Empire was constant and the Romanian army, consisted mostly of untrained peasants, miraculously managed to keep a sort of independence towards the Ottoman Empire.
Romanians did provide a a buffer zone for the rest of the Europe and maybe it did offer a small respite to the West, but the West was a force in itself, with or without the Romanians, the Ottoman Empire would have not been able to defeat a far more trained and professionalized army with which the West would have faced them.
The West had its talent, history and legacy which enabled them to build an immense culture that has shaped the world until present day.
