Product Description
Located at the very center of Europe, Prague has been on the frontline of international political, intellectual, religious, and cultural conflicts for more than six centuries. Invaded and occupied by the Habsburgs, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Nazis, and then Communist Russia, the city s identity is shaped by a long experience of foreign domination and a strong sense of martyrdom.

A treasure house of Gothic, baroque, and modernist architecture, Prague is also a city of icons and symbols: statues, saints and signs reveal a turbulent history of religious and cultural conflict. As Kafka s nightmare city and home of the Good Soldier _vejk, the Czech capital also produced two of the twentieth century s emblematic writers. Richard Burton explores this metropolis of theatrical allusion, in which politics and drama have always been intertwined. His interpretation of the city s cultural past and present encompasses opera and rock music, puppetry and cinema, surrealism and socialist realism. Looking at Prague s world-famous landmarks and lesser-known sites, his reading of the city through its writing and iconography is both perceptive and challenging.

* THE CITY OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS: The Castle and Kafka, Ha_ek and Kundera; music from Smetana to the Plastic People of the Universe; modernism and cubism; political theater and the playwright-president Václav Havel.

* THE CITY OF TYRANNY AND RESISTANCE: Jan Hus and anti-Catholic revolt; subjugation and the rise of Czech nationalism; Germans, Czechs and Jews; "Prague Spring" 1968, Charter 77 and the "Velvet Revolution" of November 1989.

* THE CITY OF MAGIC, MURDER, AND MYTH: Medieval alchemy and astrology; the myth of the Golem, the ghetto and anti-Semitism; living puppets, robots, and a tradition of defenestration. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent book for the first-time visitor or resident or anyone between.
Excellent, well-written book about one of the great cities of the world.Orderly, logical structure for the first-time visitor as well as for those who visit Prague often or live there.Not only a good writer but an accurate, non-revisionist historian.A pleasure to read and to share with others. ... Read more

Product Description
In Czechoslovakia, in the 1960s, artists began to realize that the aesthetics of social realism contrasted with the realities of daily life; a movement of film arose in response to the politics and history of the nation. This work collects candid interviews with the creators of the Czech New Wave film movement (1960-2000). Their work put Czech film on the map of world cinema, generating two Oscars for Best Foreign Film, but the official critique marked them as decadent, pessimistic, and reactionary.

The work contains sixteen uncensored interviews with filmmakers such as Jan Nemec, Jirí Menzel, Saša Gedeon, and Jan Sverák, who describe the struggle to realize their visions in a constantly shifting political landscape: from the mid-1960s, through the repressive "normalization" after the Soviet occupation in 1968 (more films were banned in 1970 than during the previous twenty years of Communism), and after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. The interviews give portraits of some of the most talented figures in film, revealing artists searching for individual and national identity, who describe living and making film in the Czech Republic now and in the past, explore how foreign films influence Czech film, and speculate on the future of film. Each interview includes a short biography, filmography, and list of awards. The work is bookended by essays giving background on the political and economic situations leading up to and after the Velvet Revolution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Finally, loud and clear!
Finally, loud and clear!

With the intimate knowledge of a filmmaker, but with the distance of a writer living in exile, Robert Buchar confronts the very obvious, yet unimaginable for many, marriage of convenience between culture and politics.

Czech New Wave Filmmakers in Interviews is quite a disturbing read, full of raw memories of people who believed in film as an art form, and those who saw their work only as a bothersome migraine, occasionally disrupting their political ambitions.

Buchar's book is a document about a sad period of time and people living and working in a strange industry, deeply implanted in the sick body of a morally bankrupt society.As preventive medicine, this anthology should be prescribed to all aspiring filmmakers, since the Mephistos of our time may wear different coats but live on all continents. ... Read more

Product Description
Gender, especially masculinity, is a perspective rarely applied in discourses on cinema of Eastern/Central Europe. Larks on a String exposes an English-speaking audience to a large proportion of this region s cinema that previously remained unknown, focusing on the relationship between representation of masculinity and nationality in the films of two and later three countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The objective of the book is to discuss the main types of men populating Polish, Czech and Slovak films: that of soldier, father, heterosexual and homosexual lover, against a rich political, social and cultural background. Czech, Slovak and Polish cinema appear to provide excellent material for comparison as they were produced in neighbouring countries which for over forty years endured a similar political system state socialism. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Czech Music, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 6716 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Prague Manifesto after (almost) sixty years.(history)
Author: Jaromir Havlik
Publication: Czech Music (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 2Page: 42(10)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
From their heroic feats on the battlefields of World War I to the rise of Hitler and a tragic culmination at Treblinka, this is one family’s extraordinary history.Nancy’s father was not like other fathers in their northern English town. Elegantly dressed after the Eastern European fashion, an impeccable violin player, and never without a rose in his lapel, her father’s entire essence alluded to a hidden and haunting past. Upon his death, Nancy, on a quest to rediscover her family’s past, delves into the endless boxes of letters and diaries her father carried when he fled Czechoslovakia in 1939.

There were times of joy: a son’s return from the trenches of Verdune; the birth of grandchildren; a growing family business. But there was also fear. As the first stormtroopers march into Podersam, Nancy witnesses the disintegration of the family through their increasingly desperate letters. My Father’s Roses is a compelling and intimate testament to the persistence of family, memory, and the bonds of kinship in the face of humanity’s darkest hour. 16 b&w illustrations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A literary look of how the world wars affected people on a personal level
Truth will eventually come to light, even if no one will speak it. "My Father's Roses" is a memoir of Nancy Kohner and her family. Her father never spoke of his past and when she began to go through his things after his death, Nancy began to discover her father's tragic story, which he never spoke of for very good reason. A true story of a family, secrets, and uncovering what really happened, "My Father's Roses" is a top pick for those looking for a literary look of how the world wars affected people on a personal level. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Czech this out if you are headed for Prague
A toungue-in-cheek tourist guide to the bewildering Czechs. As in the rest of the Xenophobe series, the authors provide information and insight into the national character in a humorous manner. This book is enjoyable and informative to read pre- or post- contact withCzechs. A young Czech read it and was mystified. "Everything in the book is normal," he said, "it is the Americans who are strange." ... Read more

Product Description

In a new perspective on the formation of national identity in Central Europe, Nancy Wingfield analyzes what many historians have treated separately--the construction of the Czech and German nations--as a larger single phenomenon.

Czech and German nationalism worked off each other in dynamic ways. As external conditions changed, Czech and German nationalists found new uses for their pasts and new ways to stage them in public spaces for their ongoing national projects. These grassroots confrontations transformed public culture by reinforcing the centrality of nationality to everyday life and by tying nationalism to the exercise of power. The battles in the public sphere produced a cultural geography of national conflict associated with the unveiling of Joseph II statues that began in 1881, the Badeni Language Ordinances of 1897, the 1905 debate over a Czech-language university in Moravia, and the celebration of the emperor's sixtieth jubilee in 1908. The pattern of impassioned national conflict would be repeated for the duration of the monarchy and persist with even more violence into the First Czechoslovak Republic.

Numerous illustrations show how people absorbed, on many levels, visual clues that shaped how they identified themselves and their groups. This nuanced analysis is a valuable contribution to our understanding of Central European history, nationalism, and the uses of collective memory.

Product Description
Everything a traveler needs to know about the Slovak people, their unique culture, and how to acclimate smoothly within it.

Features descriptions of topics such as how to find accommodation and get settled in, applying for a visa, Slovak food, public transportation, and social and business customs. Includes hundreds of addresses and Web sites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

For being the only item of its kind, It's great!
As I prepare for my departure to Slovakia I have been on a hunt for some form of literature to cover the history and culture of the Slovak Republic. This author did a fabulous job of doing just that! I highly recommend this book to anyone thinking of moving to Slovakia as well as her blog which also has several insights.

Note: Since the time of this book publishing Slovakia has gone on the Euro currency. This, so far, is the only deviation I have seen from the book and current day Slovak.

Women traveling alone in Slovakia
I am sixty year old woman.I was planning a trip to Europe this spring.I have wanted to visit the town that my grandparents came from in Slovakia all my life.I had been in Europe before, and realized that I needed to get to Slovakia before I got older.I researched Slovakia's history, economy and my lineage for months before I left.I just couldn't get up the nerve to go until I read Margarete's book, The Foreigner's Guide to Living to Slovakia.
I read blogs and emailed Margarete to build up my determination to travel to Slovakia.Even on the day I was to get the train from Vienna to the Tatra Mountains, I was still trying to convince myself that I could do it. I read her chapter on train travel again, but decided that even though I couldn't read or speak the language, I would go.Margarete's descrption of how to read the train ticket and travel by bus, got me on the train.I even read her book on the 6 hour ride to Spisska Nova Ves.
I had the time of my life. I met wonderful people.
I want to go back.I will!I will base my next European trip from Slovakia.I feel I can drive, or take public transportation to the North and the South of Slovakia.
I have never felt more safe.I enjoyed the food that I remembered Grandma making. I felt at home.
Thank you, Margarete

An absolute "must-have" for anyone preparing to visit Slovakia.
Written by Margarete Hurn, an American who has lived and worked in Slovakia for more than five years, The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia is a straightforward guide for travelers visiting this European nation for a few weeks or a few years. Chapters offer a brief overview of the Slovak people and their culture, legal matters such as applying for a visa or extended-stay permit, social and business customs, basics in adjusting to the local food and public transportation, recreational activities available, Slovak etiquette in both business and social circles, and much more. An absolute "must-have" for anyone preparing to visit Slovakia.

great book for the tourist as well

Preface: I've been to four western European countries (France, Italy, Belgium, Ireland), but only one Central European one (Czech Republic). By coincidence two of the people on my team are Slovaks, so I'm naturally interested in learning more about their country and culture. When I heard about The Foreigner's Guide To Living In Slovakia- I jumped at the chance to read it. These are the haphazard notes I took while reading it. (In the interest of full disclosure: the author is the wife of one of my team members, however I've never met her.)

Ch1: The Land and Its People
This chapter offers an overview of the country, people, language, economy, religion, housing, and popular recreation.


Ch2: History
I'm a product of the American educational system, so it was good to see a whole chapter devoted to history-- it was mostly new to me! Before traveling to the Czech Republic, I'm ashamed to admit I read Rick Steves' Prague book (it was the best rated and most up to date at the time). There were maybe a few pages on history, some of which I've since learned its debatable. In this book however, much thought has been given to remaining accurate and neutral on still sensitive topics, given this area's volatile past.


Ch3: The Basics
This chapter covers the things you should know prior to arriving in a foreign country, such as the various options for getting around from the most convenient/expensive, to the most time consuming/cheap. It was nice to see advice useful for anyone from the business traveller on the corporate charge card to the broke student, and everything between.

Also covered are various important facts, for example grocery stores may not supply the bags for your items. After an embarrassing event in Paris involving the attempted purchase of some bananas (you need to weigh and tag them yourself, I've since learned), I really appreciate these sorts of subtle details.


Ch4: The Law
Although Slovakia is known for its beer, did you know the law allows absolutely no blood alcohol level if your driving? Better read the other important bits in this chapter before your trip-- or you might be writing the next book in the series-- The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovak JAIL!


Ch5: Relocating and Settling In
This chapter has a nice breakdown of the 5 major neighborhoods of Bratislava- valuable stuff even if you're just a tourist curious what to expect from the city. And if you're looking to live there, you'll find it interesting to read about the odd laws, for example you're supposed to pay a tax if you have a TV or radio. (I wonder how they enforce that one...)


Ch6: Culture
I found it interesting to read that the young Slovaks embrace the old traditions, such as the regional dances and music, and continue to keep it alive (as evidenced by the book's cover.) This is quite the opposite from my experience of other places. However there are, ahem, "interesting", Slovak traditions that I'm surprised to read continue to this day. Apparently if you're a young girl and the boys like you, they whip you with willow branches and douse you in cold water. Thats if they *like* you! You can read why for yourself...


Ch7: Leisure
Slovakia is home to the part of Europe's longest cycling route (extending from Germany to Hungary), is home to six UNESCO world heritage sites, and is has tons of caves. Sweeeet.


Ch8: Food & Drink
Reading this chapter reminded me of my trip to Prague- if you eat out, expect lots of variety... of meat and starch. Although there are plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables available, for some reason they're just not served at most restaurants. This chapter describes what foods are available, and where. (I wish I read something similar for Prague beforehand-- I went crazy by day 3 of meat/starch 3 times a day.) There's also a thorough description of the Slovak beers, which can sometimes be cheaper than bottled water. Its making me thirsty just recounting it...

Ch9 and Ch10 Social Customs and Final Words of Advice
Rounding out the book are the last two chapters, on how not to stick your foot in your mouth or go crazy as a lonely expat in a foreign land.


Overall its a great book- easy to read and very informative. Highly recommended if you plan on visiting or living in Slovakia.

Don't leave home without it!
Did you know that Bratislava is considered one of the major centers of European Judaism?Or that CSA can fly directly from Prague to Zilina or Poprad?Are you up-to-snuff on Slovak cultural traditions?Quick then:what foods shouldn't you eat on New Years Day?This valuable guidebook to Slovakia was written by an English teacher who lived and worked there for 5 years.The author felt there was a dearth of info everyday living for non-natives in Slovakia, hence this 200-page guidebook.Broken down into chapters like Slovak History, Law, Folk Culture, Leisure, Food, Social Customs, it gives you little tidbits of info on just about everything you could imagine.Like any god travel guide, there are ample photos, maps & tables;over 100 websites are proffered as well.TFG is written in a clear, concise manner and all diacritical marks are in place.In the Transportation chapter, a copy of a typical bus schedule is printed with tips on reading it;later, Hurn goes into some detail on the VAT tax."The Basics" chapter covers holidays, border crossings, currency & conversion equivalents (all info in TFG is current from May 2007).General words/Slovak phrases are provided, as well as a complete calendar of name days, an index and multiple weblinks.If castles are your thing, [...] contains info on about 250 Slovak castles.No subjects are shied away from:"The Tiso question" is handled evenly and fairly as is a subchapter on the Roma.The author even discusses the pro's and cons of living in a panelak such as is found in Petrazalka.This book is packed full of practical info and insiders tips that you won't find in a Frommers or Lonely Planet. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is a journal article from Critical Perspectives on Accounting, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Drawing on Geertz [Geertz. Thick description: toward and interpretive theory of culture. In: The interpretation of cultures: selected essays by Clifford Geertz. New York: Basic; 1973], the paper investigates how culture impacts upon the construction of auditor independence (AI) within the Central and Eastern Europe region (hereafter CEE), illustrated with the examples of the two new EU members: Poland and the Czech Republic. In an era of growing global pressures for harmonisation of systems of corporate governance and accountability, it is important to study professional developments in other cultural contexts, especially where auditing has only recently been legislatively established, in the CEE region. What emerges from this study is heterogeneity of AI, a construct of differences which appears rather resistant to a norms and principles-based summary, as in the IFAC code. In Poland and the Czech Republic an emphasis on the different interpretations of more general notions of independence, such as ideas of individual freedom, political and economic liberalism, as well as economic reality, inform a construct of auditor independence locally. What we need, is thinking about AI that is responsive to cultural particularities, individual interpretations, and plurality of ways for its operationalisation. ... Read more

Product Description
This unusual, distinctive book is a glowing, theatrical blend of history, travelogue, fictional sketch, art and literary criticism, and personal essay. Angelo Ripellino goes beyond the tourist cliché of Prague and brings out the mystery, ambiguity, gloom, lethargy, and hidden fascination of the city of the Vltava. He uses melodrama and ghost stories, as well as tales from the enchanted road and the risqué barroom to relate the sorcery of the Bohemian capital in a wonderful mix of fact and fiction.
As the book opens, Kafka and Hasek are still stalking the streets of the Old Town. In the second section we are in the seventeenth century, with its emphasis on the occult. Traveling on, we move through Prague's bordellos, theaters, ghetto, alchemists' laboratories, and cafés, accompanied by Rudolph II, Apollinaire, and Czech dadaists. The result of this imaginary guided tour is a deeper knowledge of the city than any ordinary guidebook can provide as well as an exhilarating introduction to Czech culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Spirits of Prague
If any book can capture the Genius Loci of Prague, this is the one.

So that's why it's called Magic Prague
I tried to read this before my trip to Prague and found it inaccessible and its language pretentious. Then, after a week in the city, I started reading again. And couldn't stop. It is only when you visit the Jewishcemetery or Prague Castle that the myths, ghosts and executioners of thepast come alive. Although a tough read, it is exceptionally rewarding forthe traveller who wants to take more home from Prague than just Bohemiancrystal.

Prague for the deeply romantic, literate traveler
The late Mr. Ripellino has amassed a tribute to Prague like no other.It breathes.Anyone that has ever visited the "Golden City of a 100 spires" must have had an inkling deep in their soul of what the authorhas magnificently put down in words. The "Old Crone [Prague] hasclaws", as Kafka put it, and Ripellino shows exactly why that is so. The research that went into this book is simply astounding, with my editionhaving 44 pages of tightly spaced notes, of 333 pages total, includingindex.The book takes us from one extraordinary Prague tale to another,with myth, legend and reality all melting into one pot of magic. Anyonethat plans to visit the center of Europe should read this book in advance,or at least skim it on the plane.It is a tough read, being full of poeticphrases and meticulous details, which often beg for multiple readings. However, the time spent is well worth it.The book will serve as abeautiful bridge between the soul and the mind, as the traveler wandersalong the cobblestones of thousand year old "Praha." p.s. Ibought my edition (Picador) in Prague for 315 Kcs, or about US$ 9.Theprice on the back of the paperback is 9.99 British Pounds, which is aboutUS$ 17, depending on the day.

Frank Kafka meets Microsoft Word
Definitely not light reading, Ripellino's Magic Prague churns its way through the culture of Prague with exquisite attention to minute detail. This is a book which explores the historic underside of Prague, providingthe visitor with a level of information not elsewhere found.

The best book about Prague.
I wish I had this book in 1981-83 when I was wandering in Prague with my camera. I wish I had this book in that attic room under the roof made with old dark wooden beams in Malostranske namesti. Karluv most was my magic everyday walkabout. I have my photographs and this book to remember when Iforget that magic exists. ... Read more

Product Description
In the years leading up to World War II, libraries played an increasingly significant role in the culture lives of East European Jews. Amid the squalor, books provided many with an opportunity to escape for a while and offered renewed hope and willpower. Maintaining libraries was also an act of resistance, helping the people keep a hold on their humanity and a cultural link with the past. This work details the story of libraries in five of the largest ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe: Ldz and Warsaw in Poland, Kovno and Vilna in Lithuania, and Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

FASCINATING - illuminates a (mostly) unknown phenomenon
There is no way that a description of European Jewish life in the Holocaust can be other than lacerating.That said this small exploration of the resistance of the mind and escape from the physical prison which trapped the Jewish community by their holding tenaciously to the cultural attachment to the written word is remarkable. People, from little children to the elderly, despite the utter horror of their surroundings, made use of books.The image of libraries - still with an overdue system intact - of libraries to which one had to contribute a book to become a borrower - and of the desperate Warsaw fighters hidden behind a case of books are simply a few of the remarkable images that fill this work. If an escape or resistance of the spirit were possible surely this was it; what did those doomed people read to escape from or place a context to their unimaginably horrible experience. It is hard not to take some pleasure in the idea that there were such books - Shavit tells quite precisely what they were and who read them - but sadly notes books were hidden for readers who never returned, the Yiddish literature that has survived in largest quatities was, ironically, that confiscated by the Nazis, and in the end a few of the thumbed, tattered books remained but finally there were no more readers. ... Read more

Product Description
Pink Tanks and Velvet Hangovers: An American in Prague, by Douglas Lytle, is a travel book that takes place in the months following the fall of the repressive Socialist government in Czechoslovakia. From the vantage point of an American journalist who went to Prague with his Czech girlfriend, Lytle documents the first shaky steps to democracy and capitalism, including the 1992 division of the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He writes of the awkwardness and slights of a country in transition, the sights, smells, and incredible beauty he witnesses, and of a people and a government on the cusp of massive change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A more sensible review!
I think the correct review lies somewhere between the worst and best review of this book. It never pretends to give an "artful" description of the Czech and Slovak transformation after Communism. It is simply a book of a journalist's notes (note the conclusion where he describes looking back on all of his notes from his years in Prague - he never hides this fact).

Don't ignore this book simply because you are jealous the writer was published for writing something many of us can and wish we could do. If you are going to be in Prague for some time, it is an eye-opener, especially if you were not there during the transition period. There are probably some ex-pats who could have done it better, but they don't have a book published.

The book is a little long. It is organized very haphazardly. There are many annoying typos. But it is a quick read and does contain some interesting bits. I thought some of his personal experiences were interesting and he made some good points. There were other times where I had no clue where he was going with his writing.

Bottom line: this is not literary masterpiece, but how many travel journals really are? Check it out.

Boring
The first reviewer got it right -- this is an artless and boring book. It totally fails to capture the excitement of the time it's purported to cover -- and contains a great many inaccuracies. The first "half" (I think it's actually less than half) of the book consists of entries from the author's own journal, which he obviously stopped keeping after a very brief period. The second part of the book picks up, chronologically, where the author's meagerly journal left off -- by summarizing the news and events of the period -- in rapid succession and without background information, personal or otherwise. As the author had ceased to keep his journal, this part of the book is sourced from archival stories from the Prague Post. Whether it is from that newspaper or from the author's own misperceptions that the numerous factual errors arise, it makes for a boring and inaccurate read overall.

A Rambling, Likable, Barely-edited and Unnecessary Work
I lived in CZ for four years (outside of Prague, a mysterious wilderness to this writer), where a lot of Americans have aspirations to write.Horribly enough, this book was the "first" to describe that wholePrague scene.I say horribly, because this book is likable -- but thenarrator does nothing unusual, thinks nothing daring --he more or lesstranscribes banal journal entries into a long artless book.I could go onabout the amatuerish writing style (a good editor would have cut the bookto about the length of a Lonely Planet review) -- or about the lazytypesetting (full of typos), and the benefit a little fact checkingwould've had (it's "Havlova" not "Havelova","vul" is "ox" not "bull", and so on....).Itseems this book is the kind that would make a mother proud, but would bemet with sneers and jeers by all other "expats."A lot of themheld off writing this kind of book because they were waiting to synthesizeand compose artfully from their Czech experience.What we have here, forall its description, is a "nice" American doing"exciting" things in a foreign country.I thought it was hard toget travel writing published, but now I see it doesn't take a hell of a lotof work.The author does nothing original, thinks no original thoughts,and pretty much stole the fire from anyone else who might put out a"real" chronicle of the Prague experience.Too bad.

Essential reading for anyone going to former Czechoslovakia.
Mr. Lytle's experiences roughly paralleled mine though I spent a year teaching in the less trendy Slovak half of Czecho-Slovakia.His experienceof a society in transition and attitudes toward the West are especiallyresonant.He was right about the beer; it's great and the women arebeautiful (the best kept secret of the Cold War) I should know, I met mywife in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

Usefull reading if you're going to travel to Prague
Because I would be spending a semester studying in Prague, I decided to pick up Douglas Lytle's book.I must say I was very pleased with the results.Lytle writes like a good friend, filling you in on the social andpolitical climate of the country without ever coming off as boringprofessor.Lytle managed to change my attitude towards Prague (that beingfrom a kid only concerned about partying and going out to someone who isactually concerned and interested in a foreign culture) and for that alonei am gratefull.Lytle is first and foremost a reporter, and that is oftenrevealed in the way he tells his story.All in all, i would label the bookessential to anyone planning on spending any significant time in the CzechRepublic. ... Read more

Product Description
This unique and detailed analysis assesses the historical and contemporary factors involved in the democratic consolidation in HUngary, the Czech Republic, and Romania, with an emphasis on the influence of the communist legacy on the process. Contrary to common beliefs, the three countries' experience of Habsburg, Ottoman, Fascist, and Communist rule forms a sound base of shared historical experience and invites important investigation. ... Read more