Ski Europe takes skiers step by step through planning the winter vacation of their dreams in the Alps in Austria, Italy, Switzerland or France as well as major resorts in Spain and Andorra.Just like here in the United States or Canada, every European resort has its quirks and specialties, notes Leocha. Seasoned skiers know that some resorts are better for singles, others better for families. Some offer cozy chalets, others feature modern hotels right on the slopes. And while one resort may be heaven for beginning skiers it may be boring for the expert.Ski Europe organizes all the necessary information to make intelligent choices and provides the phone numbers to make reservations and plans. Over more than a decade Ski Europe has become known for its no-holds-barred, brutally honest reports on reality at ski resorts. Ski Europe takes no advertising, has no ax to grind, and, like Ski America and Canada, is written by Leocha together with an international team of prize-winning ski and snowboard journalists.

This two-volume encyclopedia profiles the contemporary culture and society of every country in Europe. Each country receives a chapter encompassing such topics as religion, lifestyle and leisure, standard of living, cuisine, gender roles, relationships, dress, music, visual arts, and architecture. This authoritative and comprehensive encyclopedia provides readers with richly detailed entries on the 45 nations that comprise modern Europe. Each country profile looks at elements of contemporary life related to family and work, including popular pastimes, customs, beliefs, and attitudes. Students can make cross-cultural comparisons-for instance, a student could compare social customs in Denmark with those in Norway, compare Greece's cuisine with that of Italy, and contrast the architecture of Paris with Amsterdam and Barcelona. Culture and society are changing in each region and nation of Europe due to many political and economic forces, both inside and outside of each nation's borders. This encyclopedia considers many of the transformations connected to globalization, as well as traditions that still hold strong, to provide a complete assessment of the processes that make European societies and cultures distinctive.