BARZINI, Luigi - The Impossible Europeans - (1st Edition Hardcover in Wrapper)

Book and wrapper still in good condition even though it belonged to a library before - Googled photo used.  >>>  A brilliant work, dated only because of what it lacks, not because of what it contains. The author is self-deprecating and self-effacing, never xenophobic nor hateful. His barbs are like a little kitten's teeth that bite playfully but never draw blood. The author died before the collapse of the USSR and Warsaw Pact, the division of Yugoslavia, the unification of Germany, the Euro currency, etc. Still, the eternal goodness and badness of the six peoples (Benelux, British, French, German, Italian, and American) is well captured, perhaps perfectly so. The Nordic and Baltic peoples weren't discussed but I cannot believe it was done to be dismissive of them. This is a Cold War book (NATO vs Warsaw Pact), and maybe the only reasonable one written: the style was delightful; the topic weighty.