The funniest book about travel you will ever read: a travel guide to the fictional European republic 'Molvania', birthplace of the polka and whooping cough. The text and design draw on the standard travel guide format and include: background information on the destination, including cultural details, useful phrases, holidays, and calendar of events; accommodation and restaurant listings; activities and excursions; as well as text break-outs, colour photos and maps throughout.

Moldova: Arena of International Influences brings international perspective to Moldova's foreign relations since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Eighteen chapters analyze the policy toward Moldova of selected international actors: Belarus, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the European Union, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the unrecognized breakaway state of Transnistria. For these international actors, Moldova functions as an arena of influences--a sphere of intersecting interests, activities and, occasionally, competition. For the first time, leading experts and practitioners from many of the countries engaged in Moldova are brought together in a common language. The result is a detailed map of the international political landscape in Moldova, a chronicle of the past two decades, and a forecast of the country's future.

Based on ethnographic work in a Moldovan winemaking village, Wine Is Our Bread shows how workers in a prestigious winery have experienced the country’s recent entry into the globalized wine market and how their productive activities at home and in the winery contribute to the value of commercial terroir wines. Drawing on theories of globalization, economic anthropology and political economy, the book contributes to understanding how crises and inequalities in capitalism lead to the ‘creative destruction’ of local products, their accelerated standardization and the increased exploitation of labour.

This book examines the geography, history, government, economy, people, and culture of Moldova.

It doesn't take much - "£100 is usually sufficient" - to persuade Tony Hawks to take off on notoriously bizarre and hilarious adventures in response to a bet. And so it is, a pointless argument with a friend concludes in a bet - that Tony can't beat all eleven members of the Moldovan soccer team at tennis. And with the loser of the bet agreeing to strip naked on Balham High Road and sing the Moldovan national anthem, this one was just too good to resist. The ensuing unpredictable and often hilarious adventure sees him being taken in by Moldovan gypsies and narrowly avoid kidnap in Transnistria. It sees him smuggle his way on to the Moldovan National Team coach in Coleraine and witness (almost) divine intervention in the Holy Land. In this inspiring and exceptionally funny book, Tony Hawks has done it again, proving against all odds that there is no reason in the world why you can't do something a bit stupid and prove all of your doubters wrong. Or at least that was the idea....

Moldova is a landlocked country situated in Eastern Europe, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The country has a population of around 2.6 million people and covers an area of 33,846 km². The capital and largest city is Chișinău, which is home to around 700,000 people. The official language of Moldova is Romanian, and the country has a rich cultural heritage, with influences from Romanian, Russian, and Ukrainian cultures. Its economy is mainly based on agriculture, with wine production being a significant industry. Moldova is also known for its stunning natural beauty, including the Dniester River and the Codru Forest, which provide outdoor recreation opportunities for residents and tourists alike. Despite its natural beauty and rich heritage, Moldova faces significant challenges related to corruption, political instability, and economic development.

Post-communist Russia turned against the West in the 2000s, losing its earlier eagerness to collaborate with western Europe on economic and security matters and adopting a suspicious and defensive posture. This book, investigating a diplomatic negotiation involving Russia and the formerly Soviet Moldova, explains this dramatic shift in Russian foreign policy. William H. Hill, himself a participant in the diplomatic encounter, describes a key episode that contributed to Russia’s new attitude: negotiations over the Russian-leaning break-away territory of Transdniestria in Moldova—in which Moldova abandoned a Russian-supported settlement at the last minute under heavy pressure from the West. Hill’s first-hand account provides a unique perspective on historical events as well as information to assist scholars and policymakers to evaluate future scenarios. When western leaders blocked what they saw as an unworkable settlement in a small, remote post-Soviet state, Kremlin leaders perceived a direct geopolitical challenge on their own turf. This event colored Russia’s interpretations of subsequent western intervention in the region—in Georgia after the Rose Revolution, Ukraine in 2004, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and elsewhere throughout the former Soviet empire.

The first English-language book to present a complete picture of this intriguing East European borderland, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture, illuminates the perennial problems of identity politics and cultural change that the country has endured.

Since 1 January 2007, Moldova has been a direct neighbour of the European Union. Nonetheless, Moldova and the Russia-dominated geopolitics of the Black Sea region receive still relatively little attention in the West. This is all the more surprising as there remain a number of consequential political divisions and unresolved conflicts in the area. One of them is the Transnistria conflict in Moldova.This book is a contribution to the, so far, small research and policy agenda on Moldova, and includes findings of several research trips to Moldova, Transnistria and their neighbouring countries. At first, the study reassesses the Transnistria conflict. Contrary to widely held assumptions, this conflict is found to be mainly based on a clash of elites and geopolitical interests rather than on ethnic tensions. The second part of the book analyses the interests, official position, actual impact and potential role of the EU in Moldova's internal separatist conflict and its related external tensions with Russia. So far, the EU has had a limited involvement in the conflict resolution efforts and in the international relations of Moldova. This book concludes that it is becoming increasingly important and possible for the EU to get effectively involved in this region, but that the scope of EU activities in Moldova and Transnistria depends on the country’s relations with, and on the actions in this area of, the United States and Russia. At its end, the study offers recommendations for future EU policies directed at Moldova.