An account of a six months' tour of Yugoslavia, Aldiss's only travel book was once banned in that country Every year the coast of Dalmatia is visited by more and more sun-seeking holiday makers. Magnificent as they are, the delights offered by the beaches of Dubrovnik are hardly novel: yet comparatively few tourists seek anything else. It is inland, however, that the true Yugoslavia is to be found: in this book Brian Aldiss has captured its diverse and elusive character - the product of a proverbially complex history, a rugged and magnificent terrain and a cultural heritage which combines Byzantine and Turkish, Christian and Muslim. Mr Aldiss is well known as a writer of fiction; here his talents are triumphantly extended to communicating the ambience of modern Zagreb, the aesthetic impact of a mediaeval fresco in a Serbian monastery, the beauties of Bosnia, the variety of scenic Slovenia, the harsh splendour of the Macedonian landscape, or the quality of life in Montenegro.