Prologue: Saints, terrorists, blood, and holy water -- pt. 1. Yugoslavia : historical overtures: Croatia : "Just so they could go to heaven" ; Old Serbia and Albania : Balkan "West Bank" ; Macedonia : "A hand thirsting towards the realm of the stars" ; The white city and its prophet -- pt. 2. Romania : Latin passion play: Athenee Palace, Bucharest ; The Danube's bitter end ; Moldavia : "Conditioned to hate" ; The land beyond Dracula's castle : the painted monastaries of Bucovina ; Transylvanian voices ; Transylvanian tale : the Pied Piper's children go back to Hamelin ; Last glimpses : Timisoara and Bucharest -- pt. 3. Bulgaria : tales from communist Byzantium: "The warmth of each other's bodies" ; The price of friendship ; The bad and the good -- pt. 4. Greece : Western mistress, Eastern bride: Farewell to Salonika ; "Teach me, Zorba, teach me to dance" ; The secret history -- Epilogue: The road to Adrianople

Author's account of his travels through the Balkan countries and a history of the region