A group of Slovenian scholars has produced the first comprehensive history of Slovenians and their lands for the English-speaking reader. Slovenia, the inhabitants of which were in 1905 described by F. H. E. Palmer, an English (and clearly western-oriented) traveller in Austria-Hungary, as ‘picturesque’ and ‘superstitious’ yet not ‘wanting in natural capacities’, has been throughout the past century perceived by foreigners as an intriguing land ‘in between’ the contesting traditions of the East and West. One of the purposes of this book is to challenge the popular misconceptions abroad that (still) surround this small nation, hidden beneath ‘the administrative surface of each of the ruling cultures’ that were imposed during the long history of today's Slovenian territory. Rather than isolating the particularities of Slovenia, the study emphasises the essential interrelatedness of the neighbouring Germanic, Romance and South Slavic worlds. At the same time it reliably brings forth the Slovenian distinctiveness that stemmed from its historical (and transforming) encounters with other peoples. The book begins by outlining the archaeological prehistory of the region and the demise of the ancient world that witnessed the early Slav settlements. The study further unveils the multiple layers of medieval society and continues with the narrative of the rise – and the decline – of the counts of Celje, who played a remarkable role in the political, military and church affairs of their time. The early modern period, presented in a crisp, lucid manner, was deeply marked by humanist creativity and innovation; the Reformation gave birth to the first two books in the vernacular (a Catechismus and an Abecedarium), printed in Tübingen in 1550. Ingenious individuals, whose reputation echoed far beyond the borders of their homeland (where today they may be well forgotten in the school curricula), left a lasting imprint on the Enlightenment with their outstanding achievements in philosophy and science. In the description of the brief Napoleonic rule (1809–13) and subsequent developments in the Habsburg monarchy the reader gets the sense of the Slovenians' cultural as well as political orientation(s) in the era of national emancipation. Political demands were most vividly manifested during the First World War, which ultimately brought about the collapse of the Habsburg empire and the creation of Yugoslavia. Historical realities in the new multinational state (the latter quickly developed symptoms of the same disease that had once been suffered by the ‘sick man on the Danube’) were complex; the internal discords in Yugoslavia fatefully culminated during the Second World War. The interpretation in this book of the Communist revolution and the ensuing post-war period, however, is not convincing and as such remains subject to dispute. The very presentation of this – as well as other – subtle themes in itself throws light on the state of historical scholarship in Slovenia. This accessible and readable book has succeeded in placing the history of Slovenia in the broader European context, while demonstrating the significance of contemporary linguistic, cultural, economic and political currents that decisively shaped Slovenians' identity. In this regard The land between will be welcomed by anyone wishing to gain a better view of the country ‘in the heart of Europe’.