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Review
The greatest strength of Dowling's survey is the inclusion of cultural history within the political narrative.
(Australian History Yearbook 36 )Product Description
Located at the heart of Europe between east and west, Czechoslovakia was the pivot of twentieth-century European history. Created out of the ruins of an empire, it remained a beacon of democracy in a continent darkened by fascism and communism. But unable to resist the machinations of greater powers, it succumbed to Nazi invasion and partition on the eve of World War II. After that conflict it underwent a communist dictatorship, which was lightened only briefly by the Prague Spring of 1968. Finally, the Czechoslovaks reclaimed liberty and democracy in the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Maria Dowling's history of Czechoslovakia engages with themes of perennial interest - nationalism, democracy, and authoritarian rule and as well as guiding the reader through the particularly rich and varied experiences of Czechoslovakia, illuminates the nature of government, power, and culture in twentieth-century Europe.
Maria Dowling's history of Czechoslovakia engages with themes of perennial interest - nationalism, democracy, and authoritarian rule and as well as guiding the reader through the particularly rich and varied experiences of Czechoslovakia, illuminates the nature of government, power, and culture in twentieth-century Europe.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Learning that I was to have a Czech daughter-in-law, I felt I needed to know about the country. I think many people felt the same about these little known countries as I couldn't find a new one. This book is excellent and I now know more about Czech history than my new relative!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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2 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
a competent job
2 Sep 2004
Format:Hardcover
Telling ninety years of a national history is no joke. You can fill up hundreds of pages about a single individual after all. So, when you set out to tell the modern history of a nation that has not been peripheral to 20th century history, but rather, right spang in the middle of it, you have to make a lot of hard choices. If you plan to confine your history to 167 pages, then you REALLY have to select carefully and must be ready to gloss over a huge amount of material. Still, if you don't at least refer to a number of topics, critics will have your hide; readers with special interests will complain or trash your book. Given these points, I think Dowling has done an excellent job with CZECHOSLOVAKIA, part of Arnold Press' series called "Brief Histories".
I especially liked the arrangement of chapters here, which accurately reflect the periods lived through by the people of this unfortunate country. We start with World War I and the making of the state out of two separate sections of Austria-Hungary. After covering the 20 years from 1918-1938 as the First Republic and the betrayal of Central Europe's only democracy by Britain and France at Munich, we get into the Nazi occupation and resistance. What follow are sections on the Communist takeover in 1948, the long dreary period of Stalinist and post-Stalinist rule, the hope of the Prague Spring which was soon crushed by Soviet tanks, then 20 more years of political and cultural repression combined with economic and environmental disaster. Dissent rumbled throughout, finally coalescing and triumphing in the unbelievable year 1989 with the Velvet Revolution. Two years later, Czechoslovakia disappeared from world maps, probably forever, replaced by two smaller national states. A reader like myself, with only a general idea of the events described, can learn a great deal. Dowling presents problems, questions, or trends in succinct sentences, then discusses each. For people not familiar with Central European history, the basic differences between the Czech lands and Slovakia stemming from very different historical experience will be eye-opening. My one criticism of the book is that it concentrates heavily on political fignres and events. Everyone from Vaclav Havel to Josef Skvorecky, from Milos Forman to Alfons Mucha rates mentions, but the cultural, economic, and social are subordinated to the political. As I said in the beginning, an author has to make hard choices in a book of this length. Overall, it is a very competent job.
I especially liked the arrangement of chapters here, which accurately reflect the periods lived through by the people of this unfortunate country. We start with World War I and the making of the state out of two separate sections of Austria-Hungary. After covering the 20 years from 1918-1938 as the First Republic and the betrayal of Central Europe's only democracy by Britain and France at Munich, we get into the Nazi occupation and resistance. What follow are sections on the Communist takeover in 1948, the long dreary period of Stalinist and post-Stalinist rule, the hope of the Prague Spring which was soon crushed by Soviet tanks, then 20 more years of political and cultural repression combined with economic and environmental disaster. Dissent rumbled throughout, finally coalescing and triumphing in the unbelievable year 1989 with the Velvet Revolution. Two years later, Czechoslovakia disappeared from world maps, probably forever, replaced by two smaller national states. A reader like myself, with only a general idea of the events described, can learn a great deal. Dowling presents problems, questions, or trends in succinct sentences, then discusses each. For people not familiar with Central European history, the basic differences between the Czech lands and Slovakia stemming from very different historical experience will be eye-opening. My one criticism of the book is that it concentrates heavily on political fignres and events. Everyone from Vaclav Havel to Josef Skvorecky, from Milos Forman to Alfons Mucha rates mentions, but the cultural, economic, and social are subordinated to the political. As I said in the beginning, an author has to make hard choices in a book of this length. Overall, it is a very competent job.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Psychologically inaccurate, but historically helpful.
30 Jun 2003
Format:Paperback
Dowling presents a predominately accurate picture of the C/S unions and occupations, along with political commentary and insight. Her fault lies in consistently portraying CS as a bridge between east and west. True they are a 'eastern' people and they maintain 'western' style democracy, but there is no indication, rather a rebuffing of such mediator sentiment (shown in Stein's "Czecho/Slovakia"), that makes Dowling's often invoked theme an ambiguous one. I applaud her for her brief history of the state, but care not for her use of such ideologies which lead the reader on a quest to draw conclusions about intentions of Czechoslovakians based on little proven (almost manufactured) beliefs. The fact that the book does nothing to explain the lives of Czech and Slovak republics after the split is understood due to the title of the book, focusing only on the state of Masaryk's creation, but as a small history under Austria-Hungarian rule was necessary to introduce the nation, a mentioning of the divided republics would send the combined state to the graveyard of memory with some further dignity. All in all, the book definitely presents history for the reader, but the views presented can lead to inaccurate conclusions.
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