I would probably have never personally chosen this for my reading list, but in the end I was grateful that a relative gave it to me. The book by Thomas Eccardt is totally enjoyable. One of the places covered was the home of my grandfather Joseph Banzer, who emigrated along with two brothers from Leichtenstein to the United States. What caused the three to make that decision I can only speculate. They were probably just like most other emigres who were simply in search of the better life America had to offer. This book whetted my curiosity about that place left behind by grandfather.

The book looks at the tiny countries of Andora, Liechtenstein, Luxenbourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. The names of the countries are the subtitle of Thomas Eccardt's Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe. The smallness of these places causes one to wonder how they survived the ravages of World War II. Maybe it was simply their size. Adolf Hitler likely felt there were bigger fish to fry during his ruthless march across Europe. That seems to be the author's conclusion.

The first result you'll get with a Google search of the author's name reveals that he authored this book. I discovered not in a bad way that the book reads very much much like an encyclopedia, containing compartmentalized chapters about the little countries. Eccardt prefers to refer to these little dots on the map as microstates.

Since the publication date was 2005, some minor dated mentions pop out. Had I hibernated for the past 12 years, I might have gotten impression that Pope John II is still living. That kind of dating was not sufficient enough to detract from the reading pleasure. This book would be great preparation for someone planing a European trip to any of those little countries. You may wish to hurry though, as available copies of this gem are in short supply.

Eccardt gives good coverage without too much repetition to comparisons, contrasts, and descriptions of the 7 European microstates. I enjoyed reading the whole book, though others may want to use it as a reference work. Though Eccardt provides airport and road graphics, I'd have enjoyed an itinerary or two.

The chapter on language has several less-coherent passages, suggesting the utility of consultation toward a future edition. There are also pages here and there that seem under-edited by the evidence of multiple grammatical and typographical errors, as well as sudden outbreaks of repeated and unnecessary occurrences of "actually" and "of course." With Pope Benedict's abdication, the book will shortly be two popes behind, so it may be time to revise and update. A section on Esperanto, one of Eccardt's other areas, would be useful, as would information on gay rights, gun ownership, and other issues of potential interest. ( )