Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Central Europe - History    3. Civilization    4. Description and travel    5. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    6. Europe - General    7. Former Soviet Republics    8. History    9. History - General History    10. History: World    11. Popular Culture    12. Popular Culture - General    13. Prague (Czech Republic)   

Reviews (1)

Trust and Deceit: A Tale of Survival in Slovakia and Hungary
This is an excelent account of an unusual personal history as well as an accurate depiction of the social and demographic structure of the society of the time. The moral distortions of a society making these surreal events possible to unfold are completely breathtaking even today.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. General    3. History    4. History: World    5. Holocaust    6. Personal Memoirs    7. European history: Second World War    8. Hungary    9. Jewish studies    10. Second World War, 1939-1945    11. Slovakia   

Reviews (3)

It's a Family Thing
Most Americans are satisfied with the little bit we learn about WWII and its causes.Hitler blah blah blah.It's old news, and all of it is cliche.Well, not all.
Sharp analysis from a crucial perspective
Lukes has performed the important service of reminding us that the most famous crisis before the Second World War was about more than an allegedly duped Chamberlain and an insane Hitler. As a well developed and democraticsociety living right next to the re-incarnation of an ancient tribal land,Benes and the Czechs found themselves face to face with irrationality inits worst form. An interesting and informative view of the Munich Crisis
"Czechoslovakia Between Hitler and Stalin" was a very thought-provoking look at the crises between President Edvard Benes and Germany during the late 1930's.A must for anyone interested in World War II/Eastern European History. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1884-1948    2. Benes, Edvard,    3. Beneés, Edvard,    4. Czechoslovakia    5. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    6. Foreign relations    7. Germany    8. History    9. History & Theory - General    10. History - General History    11. International Relations - General    12. Modern - 20th Century    13. Politics/International Relations    14. Czech Republic    15. Diplomacy    16. European history: Second World War    17. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    18. Political Science / History & Theory    19. Politics | Comparative Politics | Eastern Europe    20. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (12)

A brave, beautiful book
In her short work "Say the Name," Judith Sherman uses poetry and prose together with tremendous impact. Telling tenderly of the ordinary things that defined her childhood before the war, she goes on to describe in stark contrast the concentration camp to which she was sent at fourteen. Sherman succeeds magnificently at adopting the voice of that young girl, employing simple words and short sentences that will break your heart. Asking if the Nazis had themselves known these small pleasures of life before the Holocaust, if essentially they had ever been human, Sherman concludes her poem simply: "be damned if you forgot/be double damned/if you did not."
Powerful Poetry
It is remarkable how an autobiography can tell us so much about not only the author, but about the time, the place, and even about ourselves.Judith Sherman has accomplished precisely this extraordinary feat in her book Say the Name.The Holocaust is an event unlike any other.Sherman said that the Holocaust is an all-encompassing, eternal subject.As such, we can learn an immense about the human experience from it.But the way Sherman addresses the subject, the way she attempts to write on paper what she felt in her heart, is truly special.
A Teenager's View of the Holocaust
Say The Name is a gripping description of the madness and
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Subjects:  1. Kurima    2. General    3. Sherman, Judith H    4. Poetry    5. Jews    6. Jewish children in the Holocaust    7. Germany    8. Historical - General    9. The Holocaust    10. Biography & Autobiography    11. Biography/Autobiography    12. Slovakia    13. Biography    14. Childhood and youth    15. Concentration camp inmates   

Subjects:  1. Architectural & Industrial    2. Architecture    3. Domestic    4. History - General    5. International Architecture - European    6. Central Europe    7. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    8. Palaces, chateaux, country houses   

Reviews (7)

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

Morbid Prague?Turgid Prague?
This book isn't great, but it could be a lot better if cut to, say, 50 pages (from 281, plus 40 pages of footnotes.)Ripellino is a modern pedant who floods his disjointed essay with adjectives, metaphors and literaryquotes; not necessarily a bad thing, but not good when endlessly rehashingthe same idea.The idea is that Prague is a melancholic, Kafkaesque cityhaunted by the ghosts of 4 centuries of disasters.There're fragments of(heavily interpreted) history, quantities of literary allusions, andperverse descriptions of eccentric art and science, but its all so poorlyorganized and repetitive that it makes for a bore of a book. 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. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Central Europe - History    2. Description    3. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    4. Eastern Europe - Czechoslovakia    5. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    6. History - General History    7. History Of Individual Cities    8. History: World    9. Prague (Czech Republic)    10. History / General   

Subjects:  1. 1989-1992    2. Contemporary Politics - Europe    3. Czechoslovakia    4. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    5. History - General History    6. Politics and government    7. World - General    8. Former Czechoslovakia    9. History / World    10. Political structure & processes    11. Revolutions & coups   

Reviews (1)

THE ONLY SOURCE FOR CURRENT CZECH AND SLOVAK INFO!!!
Leff has written the first detailed analysis of the Czech and Slovak Republics since their divide in 1993. She provides sufficient historical background, an excellent tale of the Velvet Revolution, and an accurateevaluation of the current situations in both countries including bothpolitical and economic statuses.This book is necessary for anyone wantingthe real picture of Czech and Slovak life after the fall of the SovietUnion. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1945-1992    2. Communism    3. Czech Republic    4. Czechoslovakia    5. Government - Comparative    6. History & Theory - General    7. International Relations - General    8. Political Process - General    9. Political Science    10. Politics - Current Events    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics and government    13. Politics/International Relations    14. Post-communism    15. Slovakia   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (8)

Poetic scholarship!
Anybody wanting to gain a deeper knowledge of the Czech people, Czech culture, and Czech spirit should read Derek Sayer's 'The Coasts of Bohemia.'Anybody wanting to dive into the sticky mess of Central European history would also do well to read this book.And those unbelievers who think that a scholarly work must be by its very nature dry and dense, MUST read this book.
The Coasts of Bohemia -- a truly beautiful voyage of discovery
Derek Sayer's book is exceptional well written and informative, indeed the text is positively lyrical at times. The aim is to provide an understanding of a "people of whom we know nothing" in Central Europe, and Sayer does a masterful task in shaping and clarifying Czech national identity and national culture.
Where is My Home?
Sayer takes an original, creative approach in writing the history of Czech culture.Sayer's book is predicated on the notion that the nation is an imagined community, constantly being re-invented and examines what Czechs have long remembered and forgotten about themselves and their little nation.
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Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Bohemia (Czech Republic)    3. Central Europe - History    4. Czech Republic    5. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    6. Eastern Europe - Czechoslovakia    7. Eastern Europe - General    8. Europe - General    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: World    12. Cultural studies    13. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    14. Former Czechoslovakia    15. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

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).
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. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century Description And Travel    2. Contemporary Politics - Eastern Europe    3. Czech Republic    4. Description and travel    5. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    6. General    7. Historical - General    8. History: World    9. Homes and haunts    10. Lytel, Douglas    11. Politics / Current Events    12. Politics and government    13. Prague    14. Social conditions    15. Social life and customs    16. Cultural studies    17. Eastern Europe   

Subjects:  1. Czech Republic    2. General    3. Government - Comparative    4. Intelligence service    5. Internal security    6. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    7. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    8. Political Ideologies - Democracy    9. Political Science    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Romania    13. Slovakia    14. Eastern Europe    15. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    16. Police & security services    17. Political structures: democracy    18. Security services    19. c 1990 to c 2000   

Subjects:  1. Carpatho-Rusyn language    2. Dialects    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. Grammar, Comparative    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Linguistics    9. Slavic Languages    10. Slovakia    11. Ukrainian    12. Dialectology    13. History / Europe / Eastern    14. Slavic (Slavonic) languages    15. Sociolinguistics   

Reviews (2)

Slovensko ve v�lce...
**** V�echny dosavadn� publikace o "Slovenskom �t�t�", pokud se v�bec zmi�uj� o arm�d�, tak jen tolik, �e utr�ila �ast� por�ky a trp�la vysokou dezerc�. Naproti tomu tato kniha nab�z� skute�n� detailn� pohled navznik a v�voj slovensk� arm�dy, jej� organizaci, v�stroj, v�zbroj a bojov�nasazen� na boji�t�ch WW2. Nechyb� ani podrobn� popis v�t�iny zbran� abojov� techniky, kter� slovensk� arm�da pou��vala. V�e je pakzdokumentov�no mno�stv�m dobov�ch fotografi�. Co mi na knize vad�, jeabsence rejst��ku (jmen i m�st). Tak� seznam tabulek by se hodil, proto�ejich je pom�rn� hodn�. Jinak ale hodnot�m tuto knihu velmi vysoko: jednakje to dosud jedin� kniha, kter� se v�nuje slovensk� arm�d�, jednakroz�i�uje na�e pozn�n� a reviduje stereotypy o ��asti Slovenska na WW2.

Good book lots of photo's and information
This is basically the only book on the Slovak army in WW2 that goes in to great detail. It has lots of photo's so you can see what the foot soldier whore and what gear they carried and what equipment they used. It alsolists in good detail the vehicle's that were used. The history of theSlovak army I found to be informative and some info matched what my dad hadtold me (Slovak Army Vet WW2).My only critique would be on some of theillustrations pictures of soldiers, medals and insignia which are crudewater colored pictures. I wish they could have done illustrations pictureslike in the Osprey books (clear and detailed). I would highly recommendthis book if your interested in the Slovak army in WW2. Their is no otherbook that I know of that can come close to it on this subject matter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Armed Forces    2. Campaigns    3. Eastern Front    4. General    5. History    6. History - General History    7. Military    8. Military - World War I    9. Slovakia    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. European history: Second World War    12. Germany    13. Land forces & warfare    14. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. 1848-1918    2. 20th century    3. Bohemia (Czech Republic)    4. Czech Republic    5. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    6. Europe - Germany    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Nationalism    11. Nobility    12. Politics and government    13. Western Europe - General    14. European history: from c 1900 -    15. Germany    16. History / Europe / Western    17. c 1900 - c 1914   

Subjects:  1. Czechoslovakia    2. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    3. Foreign relations    4. History    5. International Relations - General    6. Intervention, 1968    7. Political History    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Soviet Union    11. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    12. International relations    13. Political Science / Government / General   

Subjects:  1. Bureaucracy    2. Democratization    3. Government - Comparative    4. History & Theory - General    5. New democracies    6. Political Ideologies - Democracy    7. Political Ideologies - Nationalism    8. Political Science    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Czech Republic    12. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    13. Poland    14. Political structures: democracy    15. Science / Biology    16. Slovakia   

Subjects:  1. Bohemia (Czech Republic)    2. Central Europe - History    3. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    4. Europe - General    5. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Bohemia (Czech Republic)--History    10. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    11. Former Czechoslovakia    12. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)   

Reviews (2)

Biased but useful
The book presents useful data about Slovak air aces, though the political slant is at times annoying. Slovaks who fought for Hitler are "traitors," Slovaks who fought for Stalin "patriots."
More Gold from Osprey
Typically well-produced in Osprey fashion, this volume covers (mainly)Slovakian and Czech uprising air units and pilots; by comparison the Bulgarian half is somewhat short-changed. I would have liked a little more on the early (39-40) period included in the Bulgarian coverage. However, many of the photos (and color illustrations) are new to me, including a unique Dewoitine 520 in Bulgarian markings with a Luftwaffe-style winkel and bars (the French magazine Avions, which arrived the next day and has an article on Bulgarian 520's, shows the rudder as white, the Osprey shows it as yellow, take your choice). Well worth the price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. History: American    5. Military - Aviation    6. Military - World War II    7. Air forces & warfare    8. Aircraft: general interest    9. Bulgaria    10. European history: Second World War    11. History / Military / Aviation    12. Military vehicles    13. Second World War, 1939-1945    14. Slovakia   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    2. General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    7. Slovakia   

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. 20th century    3. Czech Republic    4. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    5. General    6. Germans    7. History    8. History - General History    9. Political Science    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Prague    12. Germany    13. History / Austria & Hungary    14. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    15. c 1800 to c 1900    16. c 1900 - c 1914