I bought this book randomly at a book store near where I lived in Crouch End, London, back in 2001. I knew nothing of the Basques other than what I saw on Euro News (mostly ETA terrorism). The writer presents an interesting and lively story of a people whose language is unrelated to any other in the world (and as a linguist, I loved this!) and an insight into their rich culture, which predates many others. I enjoyed getting to know the Basques away from all the bad press, and later on, as a graduate student in Denver, wrote a paper on Basque culture and drove up to Boulder one Saturday to meet a Basque woman and hear her perspective.