Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

This book is less written and more compiled (from Wikipedia and Google), as the author himself says in the introduction.

It describes the history of Italy and the Balkans on around 170 pages and is very easy to read, Mr. Kanski has a talent for offering compact data in an (to me) interesting way.

The price is a bit high for what is offered and the start of some of the histories seemed weird - for example the history of Italy starts at around 500 AD without any mention of the Roman Empire.

The time around WW II was featured more heavily than any other period of time.

I can recommend this book as a starting point for people interested in the history of this area, i can not recommend it if you look for a deep or complete overview.

The word, "outline," in the subtitle is true. This book looks at brief histories of the following nations:
Italy
Turkey
Greece
Bulgaria
Slovenia
Serbia
Croatia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Montenegro
Malta
Vatican City
Macedonia, and
Albania

Each section features a brief, bullet-point history dating from around 1000 CE to the present day, with about half of the information dealing with the wars of the 20th Century. Much of the history that I found interesting was the development of nations in the 19th century, first as monarchies, later as republics.

There are good graphics describing each country's flag, as well as significant leaders.

This is a good resource for those who may be called upon to lecture on a given topic, who are looking for good images or general histories to convey. That's how I would use it, at least.

Special thanks to Matador Books and Net Galley for letting me read an advanced copy.