Since his first visit, in the 1970s, Kaplan has followed the evolution of the country that suffered from Hitler's best international ally, Ion Antonescu, and one of the harshest Stalinist dictators, Ceausescu. Created from a unique fusion of the heritage of Rome and that of Greece and Byzantium, Romania is a pivotal and overlooked country that holds many of the keys to understanding the conflicts that threaten Europe's future. While touring Bucharest, the Romanian steppe, or Transylvania, Kaplan engages in a permanent dialogue with the great thinkers of the past and with the Romanians of today, the philosophers, priests, and politicians who try to keep the flame of humanism burning.