Dear Friend and Traveler,

Professors Bruce Thornton and Tom Conner are distinguished students of Europe, modern and ancient, Western and Eastern, and accomplished public lecturers and published scholars. I have asked them both to help provide us with an intellectually stimulating tour of the great cities on the Danube and its environs, characterized by both onsite and evening lectures about the culture, literature, and military history of Eastern Europe, especially the great battles of the continent that have changed the course of Western Civilization - from the end of the Roman Empire and  the often horrific efforts to repulse the advance of the Ottoman Empire, to the carnage of World Wars I and II and the most recent struggle against the Soviet Empire.

As was true of our past scholarly tours, our trip organizer, Al Philipp, has ensured that our visit will be balanced by stays at the finest European hotels, before embarking on a week-long cruise down the Danube to Vienna and Budapest, replete with luxury accommodations and carefully planned shore excursions. Once more, the four of us invite you to join us, and-in the manner of our previous visits to the battlefields of Western Europe, and the vanquished civilizations of Italy, Crete, and Greece-we look forward to conversations with you all during meals and our joint talks about the great moments - and daily visits to the great scenes - of European history in the East.

Sincerely,

Victor Davis Hanson

Senior Fellow, Classics and Military History

The Hoover Institution, Stanford University