Federico Rampini is an experienced observer of the geopolitical global scene. His insights about the Middle East are impartial (and therefore, not everybody will like them) and pointed—even sharp, at times. This is a great book for understanding balance and development in this important region of the world.

The usual von Doderer: disdainful, sharp, ironic, cynical, and sometimes sarcastic, but with an unmatched expressive power and a deep understanding of humanity, which doesn’t let him cut himself any slack either. Not everything is agreeable, but definitely everything worth thinking about (excluding, sometimes, the spirals and linguistic twists that are, all in all, a bit old-fashioned).