Those of us under sixty did not study much of what was called before the last world war the "nationalities" question, and we now suffer for it. Nelson, now a staffer of Representative Richard Gephardt, cannot fill all our gaps, but his book is a good history and he is the best of those few younger Americans who know southeastern Europe well. Sadly, the book's premise-"the most populous, demographically fastest growing and poorest region of Europe is, simultaneously, its most volatile"-has proven since its writing to be on the mark.