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The first study in English to examine key themes and traditions of Czech and Slovak cinema. Linking interwar and postwar cinemas together with developments during the post-Communist period, the volume considers interactions among theme, genre, and visual style and the way in which a range of styles and traditions has extended across different historical periods and political regimes. Czech and Slovak cinema are a unique avenue into Central European film history.

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Customer Reviews (6)

Great Photo's -- Great Value
There were photo's in this book that I could not have gotten myself -- we went to Prague 2 years ago, and this is a beautiful souveneir of that trip.I am planning on buying another one for friends.

Very nice book
I only glanced through the book before I gave it as a present to my friend. I love the pictures. How nice to put side by side pictures of then and now. It has tons of pictures in it. I haven't read the text though.

portrait of a city
This book paints an intriguing then-and-now portrait of Prague, focusing on the evolution, or devolution, of the city's main historic sites. Each spread has a"then" image on the left and the "now" image on the right. The old black-and-white historical photographs, in particular, are fascinating and beautiful. I've taken several historical walking tours of Prague and am happy to say doing a DIY tour, using this book, is by far the most rewarding and engaging method.My friends and I spent several days walking around the city with this book. It's a hardback and a bit large compared to your typical guidebook, but it fits easily into a standard size backpack and if you're willing to carry the extra weight, it's worth it. Being able to look at historic photos of different sites throughout the city, as we were actually standing directly in front of them, lent excellent historical perspective.The text is very informative and well-written, discussing the origins of the building and its current uses.Overall, this book captures Prague's beauty and gives a good sense of the its evolution over the past centuries. And it makes a good coffee-table book too.

Prague
I have only read the historical review in the introduction but here it is superficial and some is incorrect

a real gem
As a resident of Prague for many years, this book won me over as a rare find, especially for non-Czech speakers. The writer has obviously invested quite a lot of research, and the text is a pleasure to read: informative and interesting, combining insights of social and political transformations with a keen appreciation for architectural details. The well-selected images cover a wide span of the city, from the much-touted tourist favorites to equally significant sites off the beaten track. I found myself looking with renewed interest upon places I had passed often and typically taken for granted in this city of wonders. Whether you are a long-time resident or first time visitor, this book will be an invaluable guide to revealing one of Europe's most fascinating capitals through an informed historical perspective. ... Read more

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These eleven essays by historians, political scientists, sociologists and anthropologists establish a foundation for appreciating the political history of Central Europe. By examining the political landscape in each country, the contributors aim to evoke the legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and bridge the gap between the two extreme images of Central European history. Specific topics presented include: the lost dimensions of social movements and classes; the relationship between the concepts of 'nation' and 'state'; Austrian democracy; party system development; the myth of Czech liberalism; the Sudeten-German problem; Slovak politics; the regime change in Hungary; and, the relationship between democracy and organised interests. By focusing on the consequences of past regime types, social structures and cultural contexts for democractic development, this volume presents a significant base from which future scholars can proceed on a country-by-country analysis. ... Read more

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Making History: Czech Voices of Dissent and the Revolution of 1989 brings together the personal narratives of eleven former dissidents who, though close associates of V_clav Havel, operated without his international celebrity. The narratives, based on interviews conducted by the author in Prague and Berlin, relate each individual's personal experiences on topics such as growing up in Czechoslovakia, life as a dissident, the Velvet Revolution, and the achievements and failures of the Czech Republic since 1989. ... Read more

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Essays on Cultural Topics and Autobiographical Sketches
The book is a collection of essays on Czech literary and other topics. These are interspersed with autobiographic segments describing the author's and his parent's life in Brno, Prague, Berlin and the Sudetenland in the 1930s and 1940's. To better distinguish essays from autobiographic segments the latter are printed in italics throughout the volume. As reflected in the essays, the author's main interest and expertise appears to lie in the activity and writings of Jewish-Bohemian journalists between the two world wars. Essays that deal with other topics, such as the "Heydrichiada", are for the most part rehashes of information that is readily available elsewhere (Wikipedia, for example).
The author's writing style is often condescending and sarcastic. He mentions in the Preface of the book that his Farrar, Straus and Giroux editor, Ms Sifton, kept reminding him "of the expectations of his American readership". I, for one, am disappointed in the author's narrative and style. The book contains muchtrifling chatter. Thus, the author informs us on page 7 (I have heard the story countless times) that Adolf Hitler was addicted to watching a movie every night and that generally it was a B Western and on pp.42-3 that (and that was new to me) German-Bohemian girls and women in Prague wore hefty shoes and no make-up while Czech girls were well turned out, wearing high heels and expensive stockings. Nor did I care for derogatory superlatives such as (p.235) "The German troops...fought with medieval brutality" or (p.170) "celebrations...with Teutonic pomp". Some of the information is clearly erroneous. An example, though trivial, is the author's statement that the No.14 tram line runs to Branik. That has never been the case. The No.14 runs on the opposite side of town.
Although the author does not elsewhere in the book withold location names this changes when it comes to his May 1945, end-of-German-power, heroics in the Sudetenland. He does not reveal the name of the "little town in the valley" (p.223) which he almost single-handedly cleansed of German "potbellied" policemen (p.234).

Disappointed
Writing style is all over the place and hard to follow.He jumps back and forth in time and mixes stories and facts in an odd way that is best described as choppy.

An Insider's View of the Nazi Absorption of Czechoslovakia
This is quite an unique study of the Nazi takeover of Czechoslovakia in general, and Prague in particular, in that the author, a renown Yale professor of Germanic studies, lived through the events he describes as a child and young man. For those who have visited Prague, a truly remarkable city, it is nothing short of a miracle that so much of its pre-war architecture has survived until today in the Czech Republic. One bonus of the book is the author fills us in on the combined Czech-Jewish-German dimensions of the pre-way city [including Kafka of course]. Fortunately, the Allies did little damage to Prague, for it never was a central target. So much of the terrain the author describes still remains.

So the book proceeds on several tracks simultaneously.The primary focus are the historical events stemming from the Munich fiasco and the return of the Sudenten Germans to Germany, and the eventual "agreement" whereby the entire country became a German protectorate in 1939. In this regard, the author discusses resistance groups, anti-Jewish laws that were imposed, the German effort to subplant Czech cultural life, Reinhard Heydrich during his period as Protector until he was killed by British commandos (leading to the horrendous destruction of Lidice), Heyrich's successor Karl H. Frank, and the Prague uprisings at the end of the war and the displacement of the German authorities.In addition, the author educates us about one of the most fascinating places I visited in the Czech Republic, the former concentration camp at Terezin, where he lost his mother and several of his relatives were imprisoned.We hear relatively little about these historical episodes, and this important book helps restore the balance.

The other track, implemented through discrete sections inserted into the main text, is the author's own life and experiences.The reader really can begin to understand the effectiveness of German control of the country during this period from his own experiences.It is somewhat chilling stuff to read. The author also has first-hand experience with the de-Germanization retributory actions taken after the war and how one unfortunate result was to destroy much of Prague's important German language culture and university education. On a happier note, the author also recounts Prague jazz and movies during the war; interestingly, Goebbels in 1944 tried to shift most German film production to Prague due to the damage done to UFA by Allied bombing.

So, there is much important central European history included in the book.The author also has contributed an excellent 19 page bibliography, though most sources (as is to be expected) are in German and Czech, as well as an extensive index. To understand today we must understand the past, as the historians tell us.This excellent book helps us do just that.

Peril in Prague
A selective history, interwoven with personal reminisces by the author, of a great European city under the thumb of the Nazis. Highly recommended.

Peter Demetz is both a cultural scholar and a witness. His compelling personal story, as a youthful civilian in and around wartime Prague, unfolds in scattered places throughout this book in beautiful, truthful, and understated prose. ... Read more

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Czech Film and Literature
Thomas, Alfred. "The Bohemian Body: Gender and Sexuality in Modern Czech Culture", University of Wisconsin Press, 2007.

Czech Literature and Film

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

If you have followed my reviews you know that I usually dabble in lighter literature but every once in a while a scholarly book comes along that I feel deserves to be mentioned. Such is the case with Alfred Thomas's "The Bohemian Body". The Czech Republic has always been a land of intrigue as well as a place that we do not know much about. Alfred Thomas changes that. He looks at the gamut of the nation and writes about it with beauty. The Czech Republic is a small country that more than once has been on the verge of disappearing altogether culturally while still holding on to cosmopolitanism. Thomas looks at the culture of the country in ways that will undoubtedly bring about discussion.
Looking at modern Czech literature and film through a variety of lenses can only bring about greater understanding. Looking at the texts ad films from the point of view of gender analysis reveals a relationship between the personal and the political and also joins local and European identities. Thomas looks at the forces of modernism that helped to shape Czech nationalism and the interaction between the arts and between ethnic and social groups. He examines the contributions of all--gays and straights, men and women and Czechs and Germans.
Taking the period form the National Revival and going to the Velvet Revolution. We notice an attempt to be more personal and to separate from the political. Here is where the true culture of the country lies. The modern Czech identity has been brought about by those delving in the arts and culture and identity are very closely related and intertwined. Czech culture is filled with nuance and paradox and up until quite recently has been overlooked by the rest of the world. With this book, we get a clear look at the culture and the people.
... Read more

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Note: this is the current edition of ISBN 0452280184 which is now out of printAmazon.com Review
Along with millions of lives, the Holocaust stripped away the official records and family mementos that anchor personal histories. In 1989, after both the opening of Czechoslovakia to the outside world and the death of her motherFrances, a concentration-camp survivor, journalist Helen Epstein made her first tentative efforts to uncover her own history. Armed only with a 12-page letter written by her mother, she retraced family footsteps from the provincial town of Brtnice to Vienna, where her great-grandmother Josephine had killed herself in despair. In Prague, her spirited grandmother Pepi, who had been orphaned at age 8 and left in poverty, rose from those ashes to run a fashionable dressmaking salon. Pepi married a man who repudiated Judaism so completely that their daughter Frances learned of her background only as the Nazis rose to power. Epstein's meticulous research beautifully conjures the drama of their lives and times, carving out the surrounding culture until these three women stand against it in stark relief. ... Read more

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Dissapointing, Tedious read.
Epstein would have benefited from writing this book with an actual author. She goes off on tangents that could be pulled from any basic history book and contribute little to her actual story of her mother's history. It seems she took the 12 pages her mother wrote and inserted a ton of filler to make it into a 300 page novel. Save your time and read something else.

We should ALL know where we came from so well...
In WHERE SHE CAME FROM, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based award-winning author Helen Epstein has penned a meticulously-researched memoir to the four generations of Czech and former Czechoslovak women in her extensive family, from her mother's side of the brood.

While today she associates her public persona to the proud and extensive line of former Czechoslovak Epsteins (see Ms. Epstein's fabulous Amazon Short available off of this site, SWIMMING AGAINST STEREOTYPE: The Story of a Twentieth Century Jewish Athlete), the writer stakes her claim to a noble and illustrious family line which once proudly sported famous Viennese and Prague-based surnames such as Rabinek, Solar, Weigert, Sachsel, Furcht, and Frucht.

Like an experienced batsman for a World Series-winning major-league baseball team, Epstein managed to hang in that old batter's box, waiting for just the right pitch to slug out of the ballpark. In the book world, the analogue was when all the right moments fortuitously transpired to assist Ms. Epstein in securing many essential clues of research which she utilized handily in crafting this excellent book's narrative. Even she'll tell you, the process was far from easy.

Thanks to a dedicated coterie of like-minded collaborators based in points all around the globe as you'll soon read (the former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Israel, South America, and the United States), Ms. Epstein succeeded in cobbling together one of the most comprehensive Czech geneological histories on the public record.

The work is not only emotionally remunerative for Ms. Epstein, to the extent that those missing links in her family chain were finally sewn together, but it's additionally a fine account of several strong women, renowned in their various fields of endeavour, who persevered during the best of times and the absolute horrorific worst of the 20th century.

Starting with Helen's great-grandmother Therese Sachsel, nee Frucht (Furcht), who lived during the reign of Franz-Josef in the last of the Habsburg-ian thrones, passing through her grandmother Pepi's life story during the turbulent First World War and the First Czechoslovak Republic, and finally overlapping the history of her own mother Frances Epstein, Helen pored over hundreds (if not thousands) of archival sources in constructing this cogent tale.

Collectively, these three noble upstanding women belonging to the author's colourful past outlived the worst of the 20th century's ravages, passing fads, and tragic downfalls.

We swoon with Therese Sachsel during the euphoria of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk's (TGM) storied first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), when all seemed possible for the Central European remant of the former Austria-Hungarian powerhouses of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia. Our hopes and dreams are temporarily crushed alongside her grandmother Pepi Rabinek as we witness the invasion and subsequent occupation of Prague by Nazi hordes, who sweep unchallenged through the former Czechoslovakia's borders after the West's perfidy of Munich. We agonize alongside Pepi's daughter, Frances Solar/Rabinek/Epstein, the paragon of the family and Helen's stalwart mother, as she is dispatched to the Teresienstadt (in modern-day Terezin, Czech Republic) concentration camp, or in the colloquial Czech, the "koncentrak." We also rejoice when Frances is extricated from the hellhole of Auschwitz, and tranported the West in wartime Germany as part of a labour brigade, towards the oncoming Allies from the West, liberated in Bergen-Belsen by British forces at the end of WWII. Finally, we are shocked to discover the insensitivity, sheer apathy, and in many instances -- outright hostility -- that Praguers demonstrated towards the surviving returnees from the Nazi camps, to which Frances and her future husband, famous former Czechoslovak Olympian swimmer, Kurt Epstein, counted themselves.

Helen Epstein's lines draw us inexorably into this story, and once you start you'll have a difficult time finding excuses to stop.

What staggered me as I made my way through this read was Ms. Epstein's formidable discipline. The sheer single-mindedness with which she approached the colossal task of the near-vertical climb to reach the bottom of her family's history. I read with awe how solace was found towards the end.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM will stand as one of the foremost examples of the self-researched memoir. If you need any reason at all to read this book, then let it be thanks to the iron-willed determination which the answers gracing its pages were unearthed by Ms. Epstein.

A book like this needs to be savoured for its significance, appreciated for its illumination, and respected for its purity. There isn't a single letter which graces these pages that wasn't typed, written, or transcribed in the absence of a labour which can only be termed love.

I sit back and wish we all had the staying power of Ms. Epstein. The book is laudatory in the extreme.

As if Ms. Epstein's family history were not enough, there are other benefits to this book too. For those with a keen interest in the past two centuries of life in Prague and the experiences of Bohemia's and Moravia's Jews and its Czech peasantry, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is chock-a-block with painstaking factoids and historical tidbits that'll nudge you gently towards further reading. It will also supply its readers with a glimpse towards the increasingly-distant Czechoslovak past, which, with the passing of the years and the keener integration of this country with the rest of the EU, slips further and further away from the grip of Czech youth.

This book is more than just a reminder, it's a testament to a time which no longer exists. In that respect, it is now part of the permanent historical record.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM is written in a language at once accessible and magnetic. For all ages, for all backgrounds. I can't do anything less than award this superb work of history my highest rating of 5-stars.

I know you will too.

-- ADM in Prague

A Wonderful Book for College Classes
Beautifully written, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is also the product of very serious and exhaustive research. It is a magical and haunting book. It brings alive a period of Jewish women's history that is only now being written about in English. Travelling through pre-Holocaust Central Europe with Epstein is an amazing experience: the reader follows both the process of investigation of family history and the emotions this opens up for the writer.

I taught the book several times both in the US and Mexico in classes on Memory and Autobiography. My students loved the book. Many of them bought several copies to give to relatives and friends as gifts. My graduate students (in History and Literature) were impressed by the rigor of Epstein's research, and the skill with which she weaves historical information into her prose.

A Wonderful Read
This is a fascinating chronicle of three generations of the author's female ancestors. It is probably the only book in English that tells the story of Jewish women in Prague in the the first half of the twentieth century. Helen Epstein has a special talent for recreating social history and bringing it alive.

Beautiful Personal Tribute
This book was a beautiful personal tribute to the author's ancestors.

I was engrossed in this book from the first page...although it was a slow read for me, because I wanted to grasp the intensity of the generational saga, and grasp the historical facts, correctly.Epstein has more than proved herself in this dramatic memoir of family generations, identity, and history, weaving us through time, each piece of family fabric a part of the final tapestry.The reader is given remnants and squares of fabric in a familial tapestry, of sorts, through history and time, through the horrors of war, and how it affects all the generations, from past to present.From assimilating into society and racial and religous identity, to how one views themselves and what they identify with, Epstein manages to stitch a tapestry of her family, each stitch in time adding to the fabric of her own identity.Bravo for a wonderful read! ... Read more

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A group of young Jewish friends create a newspaper during WWII to keep their spirits and hopes alive. (20041210) ... Read more

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Piano Music of the Czech Romantics collects and analyzes the piano music of Czech composers from the late-18th through the early-20th centuries. Ranging from well-known composers—Janácek, Smetana, and Martinu—to more obscure composers—Benda, Stepan, and Suk—each chapter contains a selection of each composer’s most interesting pieces prefaced by a biographical and analytical essay. Some of the pieces are still available, but they are in various international editions, and some are out-of-print entirely, making this an invaluable collection for all pianists. In addition to the full piano scores, this collection contains scholarly essays that will be useful for liner and program notes, and for pedagogical and performance insights. ... Read more

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The story of Czech theatre in the twentieth century involvesgenerations of mesmerizing players and memorable productions. Beyondthese artistic considerations, however, lies a larger story: a theatrethat has resonated with the intense concerns of its audiences acquiresa significance and a force beyond anything created by strikingindividual talents or random stage hits. Amid the variety ofperformances during the past hundred years, that basic and provocativereality has been repeatedly demonstrated, as Jarka Burian reveals inhis extraordinary history of the dramatic world of Czech theatre.

Following a brief historical background, Burian provides achronological series of perspectives and observations on the evolvingnature of Czech theatre productions during this century in relation totheir similarly evolving social and political contexts. OnceCzecho-slovak independence was achieved in 1918, a repeated interplayof theatre with political realities became the norm, sometimesstifling the creative urge but often producing even greaterartistry. When playwright Vaclav Havel became president in 1990, thiswas but the latest and most celebrated example of the vital engagementbetween stage and society that has been a repeated condition of Czechtheatre for the past two hundred years.

Underlying all questions of the Czech theatre's relevance to itsaudience is the historically and culturally shaped relationshipbetween the two. In Jarka Burian's skillful hands, it also becomes anextremely important touchstone for understanding the history of moderntheatre within western culture. ... Read more

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Honorable Mention in the Best Edited Historical Book category of the 2004 Golden Light Awards Photographic Book of the Year competition sponsored by the Maine Photographic Workshops

Jaroslav Rossler (1902-1990) was one of the Czech avant-garde photographers of the first half of the twentieth century whose work has only recently become known outside Eastern Europe. Czech photography in the twenties and thirties produced radical modernist works that incorporated principles of abstract art and constructivism; Jaroslav Rossler was one of the most important and distinctive artists of the period. He became known for his fusing of different styles, bringing together elements of symbolism, pictorialism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, new objectivity, and abstract art. His photographs often reduced images to elementary lines and shapes that seemed to form a new reality; he would photograph simple objects against a stark background of black and white, or use long exposures to picture hazy cones and spheres of light. From 1927 to 1935 he lived and worked in Paris, producing work influenced by constructivism and new objectivity. He used the photographic techniques and compositional approaches of the avant-garde, including photograms, large details, diagonal composition, photomontage, and double exposures, and experimented with color advertising photographs and still lifes produced with the carbro print process. After his return to Prague, he was relatively inactive until the late 1950s, when he reconnected with Czech artistic and photographic trends of that period, including informalism.

This book documents each stage of Rossler's career with a generous selection of duotone images, some of which have never been published before. The photographs are accompanied by texts by Vladimir Birgus, Jan Mlcoch, Robert Silverio, Karel Srp, and Matthew Witkovsky. ... Read more

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This biography tells of the life of a Czech airman who escapes from the Nazi invasion, fights with the French and finally arrives in Britain to fly as an air-gunner with the RAF during World War II. He returns to his homeland after World War II but escapes back to the UK again when the communists gained control. Again he joins the RAF and rose to the rank of Warrant OfficerThe unique part of this is that from his time in France, throughout World War II and until half way through his second tour with the RAF he was inseparable from his Alsatian dog, an animal that became famous and was awarded a dog equivalent to the VC. The animal flew with his owner on many bomber raids, became the squadron mascot and was officially a serving RAF dog. It played an amazing part in the second escape from the Czech communists regime when the author was lucky to make it over the border to the US zone in Germany. ... Read more

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In the aftermath of World War II, approximately three million Sudeten-Germans were expelled from their homes in the former Czechoslovakia because of their part in the dismemberment of the Czechoslovak Republic by Nazi Germany in 1938-39. For many years their representatives, the Sudeten-German Association, attempted in vain to redress the wrong done to their people. However, the end of the Cold War has given a new impetus to their campaign. Currently they attempt to block Czech entry into the EU unless there is restitution of confiscated properties. Jürgen Tampke tells the story of the Sudeten-Germans from the beginning of their settlement 700 years ago in what is now the Czech Republic to current times.
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A new edition of the standard work on Slovakia's fascinating history This classic book offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date history of Slovakia, from its establishment on the Danubian Plain to the present. While paying tribute to Slovakia's resilience and struggle for survival, it describes: - Contributions to European civili-zation in the Middle Ages - Development of Slovak conscious-ness in response to Magyarization - Struggle for autonomy in Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Versailles - Resistance to a Nazi-controlled Europe - Reac-tion to Communism - The creation of the second Slovak Republic.Now fully updated to the present day, the book examines the vagaries of Slovak post-Communist politics that led to Slovakia's membership in NATO and the European Union. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

selective historical nationalism
This book had a shocking and noticeable bias that can be summed up as nationalistic history.Although this is one of the few books on Slovak history, it was disturbing to read as the author sugar coated the Nazi collaboration under Josef Tiso in the Chapter "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945", as if the goal of national self-determination justified his actions during this time period.

disappointing but could have been worse
Being curious about Central European history, I went ahead and read this book despite the mixed reviews on Amazon. After reading it, I do tend to agree with some of the reviewers and feel a bit disappointed. It being written by a non-historian does detract from its value. In addition, a troublesome aspect is that the book's underlying theme is the Slovaks' survival. In other words the ancestors of modern Slovaks were guided by striving toward achieving independence of "Slovakia / Slovensko" since the arrival of the Hungarians in the 10th century. This idea projects 19th century sensibilities of national identity or nationalism onto the early Middle Ages. As Kirschbaum's specialty is politics, this supposed book of Slovak history works on trying to relate past political events to Slovak nationalism and the creation of Slovakia.

In the end I found Kirschbaum's underlying messages of "pity the Slovaks" and "the Slovaks had to fight for their right to live from the beginning" (that dubious projection of 19th century sensibilities onto the distant past) to be tiresome after a while. For a supposed history book, his apologist's stance and whitewashing when discussing the Slovak puppet state in World War Two was also disappointing and a sign that his ancestry / national allegiance was affecting his analysis of historical events. He would have done better if he had followed the approach used by Ivo Goldstein in his book on Croatian history (Unlike Kirschbaum, Goldstein had no problem with describing and analyzing unsavory or less attractive events in his people's history. Then again, Goldstein is a historian whereas Kirschbaum is not).

I give two stars because it isn't a complete disaster but adjust your expectations when reading this one. It could have been much better if it had provided more comprehensive treatment of events on Slovak territory regardless of whether they suited Kirschbaum's pet theories / theses on Slovak nation-building.

Thick growth of trees, no forest
Over the last century or so, a large number of nations have become sovereign entities, recognized by others, members of the United Nations, with flag, airline, World Cup football team, and anthem.These range from Tuvalu and St. Lucia to Nigeria, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan. Everyone knows that there are others, equally deserving of such recognition, that don't achieve it.Kurdistan is a prime example; Tibet, Chechnya, Euskadi, and national states for Native Americans come to mind too.It is interesting to ponder on the historical currents or maybe even accidents that determine whether or not a nation comes into existence.Slovakia's history could serve as a prime example.Never really a nation on its own, the Slovak people endured a millennium of Hungarian rule, only---on coming close to national recognition---to be subsumed for another seven decades into Czechoslovakia, in which country they played perpetual second fiddle.This history could have been written around such a question---why some and not others ?It was not.

Nineteenth century nationalism may have led to the creation of many national states, particularly in Europe, it led to the demise of colonialism, but it has played a negative role in the world also.The "us against the world" mentality, atavistic tribalism, and xenophobia have all been encouraged and used by nationalistic forces.Nationalistic history thus can play either positive or negative roles .I would say that THE HISTORY OF SLOVAKIA is such a nationalistic book, though to be fair, a few attempts are made to show more balance.Granted, if you want to know the history of that small Central European country (people) in English, I think you will have to read Kirschbaum's name and date-studded work.But beware.By calling the book "history of Slovakia", the author may be `creating' an entity that never really existed until the late 19th century.

The history of the Great Moravian Empire of the 9th century is highly speculative---at such a remote distance in time, how can we be sure that it had anything to do with modern Slovaks ?Slavs, yes.It plays the role of that "original root" which every nation tends to find, whether it actually existed or not.Kirschbaum himself questions some of the Slovak historiography, for instance, a claim that Matthew Cak, in the 14th century, was a Slovak ruler or hero.Perhaps he was just another powerful Hungarian landlord.We read about the Slovak national awakening in the 19th century, the separation of the Slovak lands from Hungary and joining with Bohemia and Moravia to form the first Czechoslovak republic (to 1938), the subsequent re-amalgamation from 1948 to 1989, and the ultimate "Velvet Divorce" in 1993, after which Slovakia finally achieved nationhood.It is the section on the period 1939-1945, when Slovakia was a German puppet state in Central Europe, that seemed ambiguous and dubious.It is a whitewash of collaborators with the Nazis.The mantra is "The regime may not have been palatable to everybody, but it protected the country and provided the conditions for the expression of national aspirations."At the same time, over two-thirds of the Jewish citizens were exterminated.National aspirations indeed !"Slovaks proved that they were able to govern themselves." (p.211)A spurious claim as Slovakia lay under the German thumb.Slovaks never attacked anyone--just a `symbolic' two divisions sent into the Soviet Union along with the Wehrmacht.This is nationalistic history.It is written to "identify all the trees", but we don't see the forest.I'm sorry.I'd like to read a more balanced view.

A scholarly work
Being interested in the history of my people, I was happy that
someone undertook this subject.I can now appreciate even more
their struggles and happily their survival as a people despite
over 1,00O years of oppression by their neighbors.

Overview of Nation-building/ Survival in a Volatile Region
My desire to learn about this obscure Central European country over-rode my hesitancy ... a hesitancy which stemmed from potentially being over-whelmed with names, dates, and historical events of which I knew litte. Not being a historical buff yet wanting to learn, I forged ahead. Fortunately, the writing style of the author allayed my concerns with the first few chapters which set the pace for a comfortable reading experience.

Starting at the beginning, Greater Moravia was the region's name in the 900s (A.D) which was a vassal of the German Frankish empire. The Slavic nobles and people resented this relationship from which territorial disputes arose along with new winners. The area was called Pannonia under the Roman Empire. In 907 A.D. the Magyar tribes conquered the ruling German Franks. The Magyars settled in the region, having an intimate relationship with the Slovaks until the 20th century. Of note, the Slovaks maintained their Slavic language and culture despite this apparent and at times very real domination by another people. Under the Magyars, there was a form of autonomy allowing the separate culture to propigate. Numerous monarchs rose to power and forged political alliances adding to the volatility of the region. The future survival of both Hungary and Slovakia were placed constantly at risk. The author does a superb job of describing political decisions and alliances which affected the direction of the future -- which form the basis of current events. During the Middle Ages, various wars with the Germans and Mongolian invaders eventually brought the reigning Hungarian monarchs to the forefront of both countries. The Ottoman victory in Mohacs, Hungary in 1526 led to the partition of Hungary. Under conditions of this defeat, the Hapsburg monarchy with its absolutist policies, rose to rule over the Hungarians and Slovaks. Catholicism attempted to limit effects of the Reformation and its open ideas toward religion and education which spread despite opposition. While the Slovak political history mirrored that of the Hungarians, the differences in language and culture developed side by side rather peacefully for approximately 800 - 900 years. However, the revolutionary years of the late 1840s changed that. When the Magyars became more nationalistic, the Slovaks became marginalized which forced them to yearn for and develop a foundation for a country of their own. The book does a highly credible job in describing the creation of Czechoslovakia and the international milieu in which this major world event occured. The social, economic, and political policies of the 1930s and 1940s up until World War II are well discussed.The rise of Communism post World War II mimics that of the other defeated nations in Central and Eastern Europe. Kirschbaum states it best, "they became trapped in the bipolar struggle between the Western liberal democratic world and the eastern proletarian Communist one." [p.231] The defeat of Communism, from the ashes of which arose ... a separate country, called Slovakia... is one of the major success stories of modern times in Europe.

This book is highly recommended reading for anyone who has an interest in the politics of Central Europe and how struggles for domination affected the region. It would also be of interest to anyone who has roots and family ties to the area. The book is a well written scholarly document that includes a detailed and lengthy bibliography for each chapter. Anyone wanting to verify facts, delve deeper into the subject or pursue their own research is given a map to reach their destination. Erika Borsos (erikab93) ... Read more