"When the aristocratic Golden family moves into a self contained pocket of New York City, a park in Greenwich Village called "The Gardens," their past is an absolute mystery. They seem to be hiding in plain sight: Nero Golden, the powerful but shady patriarch, and his sons Petya, a high functioning autistic and recluse; Apu, the successful artist who may or may not be profound; and D, the enchanting youngest son whose gender confusion mirrors the...

Don't just see the sights, get to know the people. Never conquered by foreigners, this proud and ancient land has been, shaped by Buddhism, the monarchy, and the military. Today it is a manufacturing powerhouse and a tourist paradise that welcomes more than 30-million visitors a year. Yet, despite the veneer of Western modernity, the country and its people remain an enigma for many visitors. Culture Smart! Thailand describes how the Thai people...

Germany - the powerhouse of Europe and pillar of the Eurozone - feels reassuringly familiar. However, despite superficial appearances, this is a country that operates very differently from the USA and Britain. German history is more than a thousand years old and the relatively new German nation-state encompasses an astonishing variety of cultural and regional differences. German society is also in a state of flux, as people respond to immigration...

"For thousands of years, the Chinese believed that they had created a perfect social system, based on Confucian values and tempered by the Mandate of Heaven. Dynasties came and went, but the essence of being Chinese remained essentially unchanged until the twentieth century. Since then, change has taken place in Chinese society at unprecedented speed, as the country first experienced the turmoil of civil war and revolution before emerging on to the...

"The people of this land of white summer nights and pristine lakes are famous for their sisu, a form of enterprising stoicism. Shaped by the harsh physical beauty around them, the Finns can be melancholy, yet have a great sense of humor and they love to dance, sing, and perform. Culture Smart! Finland offers you a deeper, more rewarding experience of this beautiful land."

Stranger than paradise: Willie, a disenchanted loner, is visited by his sixteen-year old Hungarian cousin Eva. Willie's equally slacker best friend Eddie also meets Eva, and the three become loose friends, until Eva decides to leave to visit Willie and Eva's Aunt Lottie in Cleveland. After a while Willie and Eddie are surprised to find that they miss Eva's companionship and take off for Cleveland in an old car. Finding Cleveland in winter to be disappointingly...

Set in Africa, but not wholly African, Ethiopia exists simultaneously in different time periods. Culture Smart! Ethiopia unpacks the values, attitudes, and traditions of this culturally rich nation. Etiquette in daily life, socializing, and communicating are all helpfully described, and advice is given to on how make the most of a visit. Above all, it provides the tools to do so in a considerate and sensitive manner.

Each region, caste, and community in India has its own culture, reflecting unique histories shaped by conquest, creativity, and religion. Steeped in ancient traditions and intensely passionate about their culture, Indians are ingenious, creative world leaders in cutting-edge science and technology. Culture Smart! India will show you how to navigate often profound cultural differences and build relationships.

"Caught in the Revolution is Helen Rappaport's masterful telling of the outbreak of the Russian Revolution through eye-witness accounts left by foreign nationals who saw the drama unfold. Between the first revolution in February 1917 and Lenin's Bolshevik coup in October, Petrograd (the former St. Petersburg) was in turmoil--felt nowhere more keenly than on the fashionable Nevsky Prospekt. There, the foreign visitors who filled hotels, clubs, bars...

Viktor is a simple man with a mission who finds himself entrapped in JKF airport after the accidental loss of his country to villainous coup. He becomes a man without a country and is stuck in at the airport's international terminal with no visa, and is instructed that he is not allowed to leave. Slowly he encounters airport workers who come to his aid by mutual coercion. Gupta the hilarious Indian custodian; Enrique who transports food; Torres the...