What a breath of fresh air. Rick Steves manages to discuss many hot topics in this book in a calm and respectful way by stepping outside the rhetoric and stereotypes. If you watch him on public TV or listen to him on NPR or have read any of his guidebooks then you will probably find a familiar anecdote or two in this book – however, this book is political so even if something sounds familiar it is probably woven into a different, perhaps stronger, perspective then his travel guides.

You may not agree with his politics or his religion or even his conclusions but this book will definitely provide for some interesting conversations.

Rick Steves is particularly good at finding the common threads between differing cultures, showing us that people are people wherever you go. He reminds us that people are not the same necessarily as their government’s politics while not letting us off the hook of being responsible for our government.

I love that after so many years of international travel he hasn’t lost his curiosity, that he still learns new things, and still finds differences that amuse and perplex him…and that he shares them with us.