For 1000 years, the geography of Europe's borderlands has dictated their destiny. East of Poland, west of Russia, the region has always been defined by colliding empires. Travelling from Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, from Kalingrad on the Baltic to Odessa on the Black Sea, this book discovers a range of competing cultures, religions and nationalisms. In surprising encounters and characters, the author shows the shaping power of the past through the experiences of the borderlands people.