Unique

There is no chronological order in this book. The chapters are sorted alphabetically, by country. Therefore the story line, or the plot, may seem like a collage. This is because certain trips, particularly in the Balkans and the Caucasus, involved visits to several capital cities during a single journey, or happened shortly one after another. And yet in this book, chapters describing these capital cities can be a few pages apart, divided by narrative from other journeys across Europe.



There are a couple of twists in the book. While each country on the continent has only one capital city, except perhaps Azores and The Netherlands, two countries covered in this book carry descriptions of more than one city; the official current capital, one of the previous capitals, and a seasonal capital.



Whilst this could be deemed controversial, Azores, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, England, Euskadi, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey and Scotland, are treated as separate states. And so is Kosovo, less controversially of course.



This edition of the book chronicles 65 capital cities of 60 countries in Europe, including: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Azores, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Catalonia, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Jersey, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,  Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican.



However the European status of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus and Georgia is somewhat debatable. As Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia lie south of the Caucasus Mountains, they are all geographically just south of the border of Europe. And therefore they belong to Asia. Cyprus, as an island, is part of the shelf of the Asian continent as well. Any otherwise cultural, political or sentimental affiliations, or opinions of others, have been conveniently ignored in this book. Even regardless of the fact that the Armenians and the Azerbaijani people do not consider themselves to be Europeans. At least there is more to read and there are more photographs to look at in this book.



The book contains over 600 original photographs, hints and tips for travellers, including sights, places to sleep, eat, drink and socialise with the locals, and more.