Pravda Ha Ha: True Travels to the End of Europe

I liked the general message of the book regarding nationalism rearing its ugly head all over Europe. I agree with the author on the importance of the topic and the need to stop the hatred and love thy neighbour. I enjoyed the thread of plot woven throughout the book with MacLean crossing paths with the same characters over and over.

What I really dislike was the writing. Lengthy, boring and seemingly irrelevant descriptions made me think of my school papers where the word count was just a third of the required amount after I'd put in all the facts and I would proceed with filling the text with meaningless prose. I feel like the message of this book could have been compressed into half the volume and it would've made a more enjoyable read.

Also, Russians don't toast with na zdorovie. Consider using something else than Hollywood films for linguistic and cultural references in the future. Russians say za zdorovie which translates as “to your health”. Na zdorovie is the Polish version, in Russian it means “you're welcome” as in a response to someone thanking you.