Czechoslovakia: the Velvet Revolution and beyond (Hardcover)

He also doesn't pull his punches. Vaclav Klaus, Czech Prime Minister for much of the last decade is rightly lambasted for launching and then derailing free-market reforms. Shepherd argues that Klaus failed to understand the difference between "possession" which involves the mere physical control of assets and "property" which also involves enforceable legal title. By contrast, that distinction goes to the heart of much of the later writings of the Czech President, Vaclav Havel. Havel is presented not simply in the light of his anti-communist disent but as one of the most penetrating critics of post-communist society too. His 1997 speech attacking the Czech government for mishandling economic reform revealed that the President (supposedly ignorant of economics) had a better understanding of the economy than the trained economist Klaus. Havel's favourite theme of building a civil society is shown to be a crucial part of the proper functioning of free-market capitalism by providing the foundations of trust and transparency in public institutions.

Shepherd demonstrates a voracious appetite for digesting complex issues while remaining aware of their subtleties. He argues, for example, that the expulsion of 3 million Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II might have left the Czechs psychologically and morally ill-equipped to resist the subsequent propaganda of Communism. He highlights how the politics of personality --- Klaus in Prague and Meciar in Bratislava --- has stunted the development of healthy party political systems. And he warns that endemic corruption is particularly dangerous in emerging democracies because ordinary voters may be tempted to see salvation in a charismatic, strongman leader. To what extent such sentiments kept Meciar in power in Slovakia is unclear. Shepherd adds later that the Slovak premier's authoritarian style was also the consequence of his experience of repeated betrayal by former political allies. He might also have noted that crony-style-thug rule is still the norm in the more eastern parts of Europe, which has to do with more than just psychological dysfunction. Fortunateley, the vast majority of Slovaks uniting to force out Meciar in 1998 has, in the process, created a stronger appreciation of democracy.

Despite the Meciar period, the author is sympathetic to Slovak independence. He rejects the notion that the split was the result of "irrational fantasies" of extremists but more fairly as the consequence of the different speeds of economic development coupled with an unworkable communist-era federal constitution. At the same time he buries the arguments of many Slovak apologists for the wartime Nazi-puppet state: Either the war-time government was forced by Germany to deport its Jews to deathcamps, in which case Slovakia could hardly have been deemed independent or it did so willingly thereby morally damning itself.

There is one shortcoming in the book. Though Shepherd does document the failure of Czech and Slovak industry to restructure resulting in its subsequent demise, he hardly mentions what is increasingly taking its place and staving off economic collapse ---foreign direct investment. Subsidiaries of western multinational companies now account for most of both countries' exports and economic growth. It's an aspect of globalisation that may, one day, exact a high political price. This ommission does not, however, diminsh Shepherd's acheivement. There has been so much about the two countries that cries out for explanation. This book has, masterfully, provided just that.

He also doesn't pull his punches. Vaclav Klaus, Czech Prime Minister for much of the last decade is rightly lambasted for launching and then derailing free-market reforms. Shepherd argues that Klaus failed to understand the difference between "possession" which involves the mere physical control of assets and "property" which also involves enforceable legal title. By contrast, that distinction goes to the heart of much of the later writings of the Czech President, Vaclav Havel. Havel is presented not simply in the light of his anti-communist disent but as one of the most penetrating critics of post-communist society too. His 1997 speech attacking the Czech government for mishandling economic reform revealed that the President (supposedly ignorant of economics) had a better understanding of the economy than the trained economist Klaus. Havel's favourite theme of building a civil society is shown to be a crucial part of the proper functioning of free-market capitalism by providing the foundations of trust and transparency in public institutions.

Shepherd demonstrates a voracious appetite for digesting complex issues while remaining aware of their subtleties. He argues, for example, that the expulsion of 3 million Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II might have left the Czechs psychologically and morally ill-equipped to resist the subsequent propaganda of Communism. He highlights how the politics of personality --- Klaus in Prague and Meciar in Bratislava --- has stunted the development of healthy party political systems. And he warns that endemic corruption is particularly dangerous in emerging democracies because ordinary voters may be tempted to see salvation in a charismatic, strongman leader. To what extent such sentiments kept Meciar in power in Slovakia is unclear. Shepherd adds later that the Slovak premier's authoritarian style was also the consequence of his experience of repeated betrayal by former political allies. He might also have noted that crony-style-thug rule is still the norm in the more eastern parts of Europe, which has to do with more than just psychological dysfunction. Fortunateley, the vast majority of Slovaks uniting to force out Meciar in 1998 has, in the process, created a stronger appreciation of democracy.

Despite the Meciar period, the author is sympathetic to Slovak independence. He rejects the notion that the split was the result of "irrational fantasies" of extremists but more fairly as the consequence of the different speeds of economic development coupled with an unworkable communist-era federal constitution. At the same time he buries the arguments of many Slovak apologists for the wartime Nazi-puppet state: Either the war-time government was forced by Germany to deport its Jews to deathcamps, in which case Slovakia could hardly have been deemed independent or it did so willingly thereby morally damning itself.

There is one shortcoming in the book. Though Shepherd does document the failure of Czech and Slovak industry to restructure resulting in its subsequent demise, he hardly mentions what is increasingly taking its place and staving off economic collapse ---foreign direct investment. Subsidiaries of western multinational companies now account for most of both countries' exports and economic growth. It's an aspect of globalisation that may, one day, exact a high political price. This ommission does not, however, diminsh Shepherd's acheivement. There has been so much about the two countries that cries out for explanation. This book has, masterfully, provided just that.