In 1915 John Reed and his artist friend Boardman Robinson began a journey which would take them through the war-torn countries of Eastern Europe. They travelled for seven months, writing about and sketching the people and the scenes they discovered. This highly personal account concentrates on the national and racial characteristics and tensions of these lands, and tells of peoples devastated by war, disease, starvation and persecution. We hear of their arrest by the Russian army, the persecution of the Jewish communities, people and places, the delights of Constantinople and many more. Everywhere, we meet soldiers in their camps and people in perpetual transit. This is a remarkable book with reflections and observations that stun the modern reader with their terrible relevance to the modern day conflict in the region. Reed has captured the spirit of the age, reminding us all how deep-seated are the ethnic conflicts of the Balkans.