Mix Bill Brysonesque travelogues with any guide to Luxembourg and you get David Robinson’s An Expat’s Life, Luxembourg & The White Rose. Finally a whole book has been dedicated to the country, its people, and the lifestyle of Luxembourg. In no other book can one read why British people have never heard of Dinner for One, that restaurants are a major venue for socialising, and that properties in Luxembourg are either owned by the Catholic Church or by the estate agents. Robinson’s account is loaded with information on neighbouring places like Trier or Liège, or Luxembourg-city’s casemates, but is also a personal story of how he decided to move to Luxembourg, find a job, a place to live and take up salsa lessons. When you once believed that Luxembourg is all but cushy middle-class, banks, and harmonious multiculturalism, think twice and read this book.

David Robinson, An Expat’s Life, Luxembourg & The White Rose, Diadem Books, 2004, 328 page, 23,50 €