This book "is the result of a fascinating expedition, carried out by more than twenty reporters who travelled the entire European continent, from Finland to Portugal, from Italy to Ireland, from the Ural to the Atlantic. Most of them architects, town planners, historians and sociologists, they collected dozens of icons, representing public happiness in Europe. Each icon tells a story on one of the milestones in the continuous process of change characteristic for the European city. [This book] reads as a travelogue about a mysterious country, a guide to cities unheard of, and an introduction to a curious world where people lead their lives in unfamiliar ways. Many of these cities have been forgotten. They disappeared behind the iron curtain, or were alienated from us by the joint forces of politics, geography and the history of modernism. Excavating them, rediscovering broken links, the reporters found themselves engaged in a wonderful adventure that has only just begun"--Back cover.