In Search of Barbarians. A Journey to the Edges where the Balkans Begin and Don't End

Andriy Lyubka's new book is a story about the lands and peoples between Odessa and Trieste, about the regions where the Balkans begin and do not end. This is a private diary of numerous trips to famous places, capitals, provinces, and unrecognized republics lost in time and space. Why Serbs don't like Croats, and Slovenians don't consider themselves Balkans, how the Danube not only divides but also connects Europe, where and when Macedonian traffic policemen cheat on bribes, which girl from Bucharest the author could fall in love with, how much rakija and ouzo can you drink in Sarajevo in a Greek tavern - about this and that, Lyubka talks sometimes with humor, and sometimes scientifically carefully, overcomes boundaries and questions stereotypes, gets to know each other and quarrels, looks for overnight accommodation and pretends to be a Slovak - in a word, does everything that should be done looking for barbarians.

Pavle Simich's painting "The Founding of the Village of Neuzyne" (1835) from the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade was used in the cover design.