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The Coasts of Bohemia: A Czech History
 
 

The Coasts of Bohemia: A Czech History (Paperback)

by Derek Sayer (Author) "FEW ARTISTS so obviously evoke a period and a place as Alphonse Mucha ..." (more)
1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 408 pages
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press; New edition edition (28 Feb 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 069105052X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0691050522
  • Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 14.7 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 362,064 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #79 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics > Countries & Regions > Europe > Eastern Europe
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Review

[Derek Sayer's The Coasts of Bohemia] is an ambitious, elegantly written, and sympathetic account of the art, the literature and the politics of the Czech people.... Sayer saunters gracefully and with sure footing back and forth across centuries of Czech religion, mythology, and history, displaying enthusiasm and engagement but immune to the usual self-serving national illusions.... His book is a delight.
(Tony Judt The New Republic )

A rich and intricate story.... Excellent ... the most stimulating introduction to [its] subject available in English, or ... any other language.
(R.J.W. Evans New York Review of Books )

Sayer's penetrating and balanced discussion of Czech political and cultural history should spare us from ever again thinking of the central European place as 'a far away country'.
(Stan Persky Vancouver Sun )

A masterful essay on the ironies and tragedies of both the cultural history of the Czechs and Czech culture's history of its own past.
(Steven Beller The Times Literary Supplement )


Review

This is a beautifully written cultural history of the Czech people. There is no comparable work available in English, and certainly not one of such sensitivity and breadth.
(Andrew Lass, Mount Holyoke College )

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
FEW ARTISTS so obviously evoke a period and a place as Alphonse Mucha. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Not a history - More of a bore, 15 Feb 2009
By Thomas Paul (Plainview, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
If a book claims to be a history of a place, then it should at least give the reader decent coverage of the history of that place. But this book fails in that most basic requirement. The author is much more interested in discussing Alfons Mucha and how the Munich Agreement affected this relatively unknown artist than he is in discussing how Czechoslovakia ended up the victim of Hitler. But that fairly well reflects the book as it is more a history of various Czech authors and artists than it is of the Czech people.

The back of the book makes the claim that the book is a "comprehensive history of the Czech people." Unfortunately this is not true. Turn to any page and instead of reading about an event in Czech history, you will read about a sculptor or magazine editor and how they felt about some event that is never actually explained. The book is a struggle to get through if you are not already familiar with the history of Bohemia. If you don't know much about the Slansky trials of the early 1950's, don't expect to know more after reading this book other than what books were banned. And for some unexplained reason, the author decided to end his book in 1960, just before the the reforms that led to the Velvet Revolution. I learned much more about Czech history reading "Under the Cruel Star" than I did reading this book.

Perhaps the book would have been better off described as a review of art and literature in Bohemia up until 1960. At least the book would have been more accurate in its description. After reading this book, I do not feel that I understand the people of the Czech Republic any better than when I started. I can truly say that this is a book that I did not enjoy reading in the least. If ever there was a book that made me feel I wasted my money, this is that book.
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