Eastern Europe with Jacob Mikanowski

Personal Landscapes

The more I’ve travelled in Europe, the more my interest has shifted east, to a region that looks increasingly complex the deeper you delve into it. I reached out to Jacob Mikanowski to help me understand its empires, faiths, stories and nations.

He's the author of a fascinating new book called Goodbye Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land.

We spoke about frontier societies, plagues of vampires, and the gift of seeing comedy amidst tragedy.