The new book examines one of Europe's most fascinating but underrated cultures from the point of view of an intercultural expert and foreign author - one with intimate knowledge of every facet of Belgian life.

Some excerpts: "Contrast and contradiction are the essential flavours of Belgium and its cultures. This is a surrealist country, where day-to-day reality challenges the foreigner's powers of imagination. Yet, as the Dutch can tell you, when confronted with an intellectual impasse, Belgians can be surprisingly creative. In challenging situations they have a remarkable ability to think ‘outside the box’.

When you have had almost every European nation marching through the living room (which someone with a deviant English sense of humour called the Lebensraum), it’s not surprising that you develop a defensive tick. That’s exactly what many Belgians have: a healthy scepticism plus a tendency to batten down the hatches at the slightest sign of trouble, what one can call a ‘bunker complex’. History has taught them to react to developments rather than to initiate them. Hardly surprising in the circumstances!"

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