Published by Twenty-First Century Books
in 2007 as part of its Visual Geography Series and intended for classroom use, Romania in Pictures, while inevitably
dated, is a useful brief introduction.
It covers Romania’s physical geography, complicated history, politics
and social life, culture, the economy, plus miscellaneous information. There is even a recipe for mămăligă. The book concludes with a timeline, a list of
basic facts, some famous Romanians, notable landmarks, a glossary, a
bibliography and an index. The text is
primarily aimed at an American readership.
The book was written before Romania
joined the EU (which took place in 2007), and much has happened in the last
decade; Romania has hugely benefited from EU membership and its prospects look
brighter than they did when Kerns was writing, though the country had already made
considerable gains since the revolution of 1989. The title is slightly misleading a there is
more text than it suggests. This is
certainly not picture-heavy, and the pictures tend to the generic rather than
making a significant contribution in their own right.
Source: Internet Archive
(This was first published on The Joy of Mere Words, 31 December 2017)
