Book summary

Isabel Fonseca delves into the largely hidden world of the Roma--or Gypsies--in this book. They are a people who have been persecuted for centuries in Europe, and the society they have developed is one which puts little stock in remembering history or respecting European states. Fonseca spent four years with Roma across Europe and listened to their stories. The nomadic existence the Roma lived for centuries is disappearing, and this is a portrait of a society in the midst of profound change.

Media reviews

"Isabel Fonseca has written an illuminating and alarming book about Europe's largest, least known and most beleaguered minority. Half travelogue, half history, Fonseca's pioneering, vividly written work succeeds in finding a fine middle road between a stuffy scholarly approach and an impressionistic diary...For four years, Fonseca immersed herself in the life of the Roma communities throughout Eastern Europe..."