This highly readable book is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the roots of the dissident movement in communist Czechoslovakia. Tucker describes the philosophical heritage of key members of Charter 77 with amazing clarity. He also does a great job of explaining the political and historical context of their thoughts.

Please note that the book is not an encyclopedic account of Czech dissident thought. "From Patocka to Havel" in the title might better be phrased "OF Patocka AND Havel," since the work of other Czech dissidents are mentioned mostly in reference to these two men's theories. However, as theoretical background to a complex issue, this book is well worth reading.

This book has been awarded one of two Honorable Mentions for the 2001 Best First Book Prize from the Foundations of Political Theory division of the American Political Science Association. The citation reads as follows:

In The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel, Aviezer Tucker provides a captivating critical narrative of the Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia and of the ideas that inspired it. The result is an informative and provocative case study of the intersection of theory and praxis during a pivotal time in Eastern European politics. Patocka was the pre-eminent Czech philosopher during the thirteen year career of the Charter 77 movement, and his philosophy played a central role in its history. His life and fate, as Tucker observes, parallels that of Socrates in Athens; and Havel's role as a philosopher president presented him with the kind of problems Plato confronted in his reforming mission to Syracuse. Tucker illuminates this important chapter in recent history and provides thoughtful critical commentary on the post-Heideggerian and phenomenological ideas that his subjects brought to life.

Spector does a brilliant job in reading Kafka together with the other members of what he calls as the Prague circle. The book is challenging to read and it requires a certain level of acquintenance with the field and some German perhaps. In any case, it gives you a different perspective to understand the cirisis within the Prague circle to which Kafka is also included. Territory, territorialization, reterritorialization and deterritorialization cna be considered as the key processes one must understand in reading the book. Even though it seems somewhat consfusing from this Spector eloquently argues and proves his thesis.

A well documented and beautifully written book on the jewish writers,known as the prague circle, at the beginning of the twentieth century. It captures their identity struggle in a political and cultural prague. Spector gives his readers a treat by unmasking an enigmatic Kafka. We are able to perhaps know a more tender man behind the desk. We can now imagine how Gregor's creator felt. This alone was worth waiting for.

My continued use of lonely planet guides is indicative of the quality I find. It is an excellent guide for us. We travel by car and lp is a plus for us as we can get to more remote area. It was right on target with the Czech & Slovak Rep guide. We found a wonderful place to visit and stay called Telc with their recommendation. My only criticism is that the binding did not hold up and the book came loose from it. It was difficult to turn pages because of occasional pages becoming loose.

Information ranging from the cheapest bus to get from the airport to the city, to the locations of the finest restaurants in town. More than adequate chapter on Prague, but the book really comes into its element talking about tiny exquisite villages in Slovakia's back of beyond!

(First, please read the other review by Mr. Hart. Then read this one.)

What player revolutionized chess? What player found chess a chaotic game and left it nearly a science? Which player did more to advance the way that chess was played, perhaps more so than any other player who ever lived? Which player was the first to systematize the rules for the art of defense in chess? The answer to all of these questions is: Wilhelm Steinitz.

The "rap" on Steinitz today - from my dealings with players on dozens (!!) of Internet chess servers - is that he was a boring player who could not play well. They also think he did not play interesting games and he could not play tactics. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. (His game with Bardeleben from Hastings, 1895; is considered by most experts to be one of the grandest games of chess ever played.)

If you want to read and own a book that was lovingly and carefully written by one of Steinitz's own descendants, then get this book. You will read an account of his life that is interesting, and was painstakingly checked for accuracy. In the back, you get about 20 games by GM A. Soltis, that are carefully annotated - with a completely new perspective. This is easily one of the highest quality books (and the most prized) in my entire collection.

If you want every chess game that Steinitz ever played, a good companion volume to this one is the collection of all his games, published by Sid Pickard of Dallas, TX.

A remarkable biography of the first world chess champion William Steinitz. Excellently written by one of his descendants Kurt Landsberger, tells the story of a unique personality, who despite great odds, succeeded in maintaining his supremacy over some thrity years of competitive chess. The book is first a biography, and second a collection of about fifteen selected games which are annotated in appropriate detail by Grandmaster Soltiz. In telling Steinitz's story, Landsberger also brings to life many of the other characters of Steinitz's time and numerous historical sidelights that period. Although everything is capable of being improved, this effort I believe is the best work of its type, and essential reading for anyone interested in one of most significant personalities in the history of chess. Aside from the excellent contents, the book maintains McFarland's very high standards of chess publishing.

The Eyewitness Travel series serves as a great visual introduction to a place. It allows you to "see" what places are like and plan your trip accordingly. The maps are usually great and the flaps of the book are constructed to serve as place markers. I bought this book after spending several months living in Prague after college. I had no money and didn't take many photos while I was there; I use this book to bring back memories. I now buy these books whenever there is one for my destination (I even have the one for my current home town).

I wouldn't recommend the book as the soul guide for a budget traveller or someone who wants more than a one-page history on things. Yes, buy the book to plan places and sites to visit, but consult another source for cheap eats/accommodations (there is a selection of these) or detailed historical information.

After years of traveling in Europe and buying countless books and maps on every country, city and tourist site, finally a series of books that gives you a little of everything, but is small enough to carry easily.

This Eyewitness Guide, like the others in this series, gives you a way to quickly identify areas of interest and gives you enough detail and colorful pictures, that country, city and site specific guide books are no longer necessary. The maps in the back are correct and easy to use with an amazing amount of detail. The opening and closing times are always correct. The restaurant and hotel recommendations are right on. The survival guide in the back gives you quick reference on everything from what the currency is to how to use the telephone.

On top of all of the contents, the book itself is tough enough to be thrown around in that backpack or shoved into your pocket without hurting it. The paper is of high quality with sharp graphics. The cover is tough and has built in page marks.

I travel to Europe several times a year and have tried every travel series there is. After using the Eyewitness Travel Guide, these along with the Rick Steves' series is all I ever use anymore.

My friends and I were prepared to fall in love with Prague based entirely on this travel book. The street-by-street descriptions are right on the mark. The historical buildings are dissected to show you the interiors, a wonderful and unique way to give you the floor plans. There are also timelines throughout the quide to chart significant events of the major buildings and people of Prague. I read a large portion of the quide book before I left home, I kept it close to me the entire time I was in Prague for easy reference and I still keep it handy at home. This one is packed to bursting with all the information you could ever need. When I think of going on holiday now, the first thing I go looking for is a travel guide in this excellent series!

I had high hopes in starting out in reading this work. Interested in all-things-Slovak and how Czechoslovakia functioned under communism, I expected this book to be a credible account of Ludmila Javorova's priestly ordination. Instead, I am sad to admit, I've come away thinking that Javorova was the unfortunate victim of a spurned megalomaniac. I hesitate to use such strong and disrespectful language, but after reading Javorova's story (which could be titled "The misadventures of "Bishop" Felix Davidek"), I, too, wonder about the validity of her priestly 'ordination.' Not that Javorova wasn't sincere in her faith: she desired to begin her religious vocation at age 15 but in 1947, Czechoslovakia was poised to become "liberated" by the Soviet armed forces. Father Felix Davidek, 11 years her senior, was arrested by Soviet authorities for continuing with clandestine religious activities. After his release from prison in 1964, he looked up Javorova, a neighbor and family friend from their native Brno and enlisted her help in ensuring the survival of the underground church in Czechoslovakia. Together, they established and ran Koinotes, a Catholic fellowship group out of which Davidek secretly recruited and educated men for priesthood in the Catholic Church. Once Davidek pushed his agenda for the ordination of women, though, Koinotes splintered and he lost much of his power and influence in the underground church. It is after this that Davidek's behavior began to border on the bizarre and his ever-increasing demands on Ludmila just more evidence of his deteriorating mental health. By 1970, when he insisted on ordaining her into the priesthood, Javorova felt that they were 'rushing' things. His controlling demands on her time eventually took their toll and she suffered from exhaustion and fell seriously ill. This did not diminish Davidek's demands on her and both of their reputations suffered irrevocably. In 1976, the Vatican officially ordered Davidek to stop his "work" as a Bishop in the Church and declared his ordinations and consecrations invalid. He refused to cease functioning as a bishop and a few years later, Ludmila finally succeeds in making a clean break with Davidek. Sour grapes again, Davidek engaged in some very un-Christian meanspirited actions against her. When he falls ill a few years later, Ludmila extends forgiveness toward him and nurses him until his death in 1988. Out of the depths is written well enough and proceeds in a chronological order. If the reader is not familiar with the hierarchy and politics of the Roman Catholic Church, he may find himself baffled at its political machinery. Therese Winter, the author of the book, never questions the validity of Ludmila's ordination and the reader must read carefully between the lines to pick up on Javorova's frustations at times in dealing with Davidek.

"Out of the Depths" by Mariam Winter is the story of Ludmila Javarova, a Czechoslovakian woman, ordained a Catholic Priest 30 years ago. She was ordained in secret by Bishop Felix Davidek, a man of intense devotion and spurred with new ideas to fire the Church with God's Holy Spirit. Ludmila lived most of her ministry in secret, out of personal devotion to God. In 1996, a news headline riled the pope who revoked her priesthood. As Ludmila said, "I'm a priest forever," even though she couldn't carry out any priestly duties. Although Protestant, I found this a very moving testimony of the Power of God in a woman's life, as well as enlightening of the effort of certain Catholics who kept their faith strong through the underground church during the reign of Communism just a few years ago. After Miriam Therese Winter listened to Javarova, visited her home in the in what was Czechoslovakia, and found a soulmate in Ludmila, she wrote the story so personally that the book feels like an autobiography. Ludmila Javarova is still coming alive out of her own depth of spirit, making a contribution to the changing face of Catholicism as women rise up.

This is a beautiful book! Ludmila Javorova was ordained in the underground Christian church in Czechoslovakia. A lot of people will buy the book because it discusses a bishop's ordination of a woman to the Roman Catholic priesthood. But it's not only about women's ordination. It's about one person's struggle to discern God's will for her life as she tries to minister to those around her -- those who are struggling in relationships, struggling with faith, struggling under political oppression. The book is really a meditation on what it means to have a vocation in difficult circumstances. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's a treasure.

To write a history text which is so broad in definition but so inaccessible to the casual reader makes this a pretentious read. As a historian, there is much that is up for debate in his first three chapters - and that is not always clear. And some of his points, (eg. that the root of Slav is from the word "sklavenoi", meaning slave) has long been out of vogue among Slavic historians. Parts are fun to read, but I believe the greatness of the text is hyperbolic.

As with some of the other reviewers, I am glad I read this AFTER I visited Prague. It is best not read cover to cover, but use the index to read about the things you want to learn more about. Otherwise, you will be overwhelmed by personal names and places in a language most of us are unaccustomed to. Don't lie to me & tell me you will remember it all! (smile). (Unless you are an expert in Slavic languages).

I have just returned from my first trip Prague and Ostrava. The history of the region is a bit confusing to us who are not familiar with this part of the world. This is an important part of the world, after all the genesis of the First World War is connected to the Bohemian Prince who was also a successor to the Habsburg throne.

Professor Demetz provides a comprehensive background to the history of the country, the intrigues and policitical fights that went on this part of the world. He provides a lively discussion of a serious subject. Prague went through a great number of battles and the people here were well involved with many events that rocked the European politics and religion.

Demetz is from Prague where he grew up and was a victim of anti-semitic tide that swept across Europe. This makes his story so human. This is not a dispassionate history book. I recommend this book to you, if are interested to know a bit more about the Czech republic and its people.

Just returned from the Czech & Slovak Republics and found this book invaluable. Excellent, correct descriptions of localities. Useful to those of us who drove the country and trained too. The mini phrase section is all you need, so don't buy a separate phrasebook. Those going to Prague should also buy the DK travel guide for that city which is excellent and colorful.

Sadly, I ran out of time to explore the Slovak Republic, something I hope to do the next time I go into Eastern Europe. So I can only attest to the Czech republic portion of this book. I found it extremely useful, especially in planning my trips outside of Prague, though it does contain a good portion about Prague. One of the best suggestions was to include a visit to Litomerice after the somber tour of Terezin. I didn't take the advice on booking ahead on my trip to Cesky Krumlov and spent about an hour finding a place to stay and I went late May. Not speaking any Czech beyond hello and thank you, I had a lot of trouble with the Czech train system, especially outside of Prague. I found the bus system to be better than the Czech train system since you could buy a ticket on the bus as you boarded and the bus drivers were friendlier to me than the ladies at the ticket windows at the Main Train station in Prague and in Cesky Budjovice (where my train to Cesky Krumlov was early and I didn't understand when it showed up, so I took a bus instead) Either way, it is extremely inexpensive to travel around the country, so at the very least take a few day trips outside of Prague, if not longer trips. I was lucky this new edition came out months before my trip. Another great guidebook by Lonely Planet. As for an earlier review, Prague Castle counts as a museum, so its closed on Mondays.

I bought this book because I couldn't find the Prague book in time (I live in France). Plus I like more of a country history instead of just city history. As an experienced traveler, I can say that overall this book is good. It's hotel suggestions must have been good because they were all full. The maps were very nice. The restaurant suggestions were great. Only a few complaints: It didn't tell us that the castles are closed on Mondays (we found out when we saw the big CLOSED sign on the castle). Also there is not much info on tipping. The book said 5-10% yet EVERY restaurant added at least 20%. I got the impression the book hadn't been really updated since the previous version.

The book is a story of a bad neoliberal Poland and a good social democratic Czech Rep. During the transition. Author begins with the claim that the success of reforms depends on policies and not initial conditions. A poor comparative frame to prove this: Poland's initial conditions were much worse than those in Czech republic indeed. Take foreign debt and hyperinflation for example. The most important, what the author portrays as a social liberal approach in Czech Republic turned out to be a combination of short-term policies to avoid unpopular policies that caused a major economic downturn in Czech Rep. since 1996. Indeed, it was the first country in the region to go into the second post-transition recession! The author's scheme does not explain some obvious facts:
1) Poland experienced the lowest GDP decline and enjoyed the fastest and the most robust recovery in the whole post-Communist world.
2) The amount of social spending to GDP actually grew in Poland during first years of transition.
3) Czech privatization scheme turn out to be a disaster in terms of investment and corporate governance: the companies replaced FDI with acummulation of debts from the banks inside and outside the country, which put a pressure on Czech currency and caused its collapse in 1997.The lack of clear owners did not allow to turn around companies and profitability slipped - so did the employment (so much for socially-oriented policies).
4) "Social liberalism" in Czech Republic was financed from abroad and brought forward acummulation of foreign debt per capita much higher than it is now in Poland: in the beginning of transformation Czech was virtually debt-free.
5) After Czech government was no longer able to purchase social stability on credit card, unemployment soared.
6) Czech privatization worked the way to make the banking sector responsible for the liabilities of the rockbottom companies (Many banks controlled investment funds that acummulated vouchers). As a result, savings were hurt.
7) After bad liberals were removed in Poland, social democrats continued their policy course: for what reason?
8) The much-trumpeted "Strategy for Poland" of Kolodko, mentioned by Orenstein, proved to be a cosmetic alteration of the neoliberal policies. BTW, today it is the left again that imposes fiscal discipline in Poland.

Overall, the book gives an inadequate picture on what happened in the region during transition. It is, however, a good record of the basic misconceptions in the debate about transformation and neoliberalism in general. I would still recommend to read it because of this.

Orenstein's book provides a compelling critique of neoliberal strategies implemented in Poland and the Czech Republic emphasizing the underappreciated role of democratic change in policy reform. He clearly outlines his arguments for what he calls "policy alternation" providing substantial evidence of 1) its existence and 2) its effect on policy. As a student of East European studies I found the book to be extremely useful in painting a clear picture of the policymaking process in these two post-communist countries and in filling in many gaps in the relevant literature. The book is very approachable and I highly recommend it to those interested in post-communist democracies - scholars and casual observers alike.

The reviewer from New Brunswick, NJ is totally off base and shows remarkably little sign of actually having read the book. Out of the Red is not about "a bad neoliberal Poland and a good social democratic Czech Rep." Instead, the book argues that democratic policy alternation since 1989 has led to better economic performance in both countries, and that Poland has benefited more than the Czech Republic from policy learning as a result of more policy alternations in recent years. Moreover, democratic policy alternations have had such positive effects because the two countries share a common goal - membership of the European Union. Out of the Red offers a subtle and nuanced argument, with rich descriptions, and does not characterize either country as good or bad. In addition, the book is exceptionally well-written and provides a clear and comprehensive analysis of what has happened in these transition countries over the past ten years. It's a must read for anyone interested in the contemporary politics of economic reform.

The Prodigal Spy begins well with the McCarthyesque trial of Walter Kotlar experienced through the eyes of his son, Nick. Nick's certainty in his father's innnocence he discovers his father has one shirt the size the star witness claims to have sold him and rushes to get rid of the "evidence." Thinking he has fixed the problem, he is devastated when Walter flees after the suicide (murder?) of the key witness against him to turn up much later as a defector in the Soviet Union. Nick may be a bit precocious, but his actions seem plausibly childlike and realistic in his naive belief that getting rid of the shirt got rid of the problem. There is tremendous emotional power in this section of the book and it draws the reader in with its promise.

Years pass and and the adult Nick is asked by his father to help him come home by finding the important, and still active spy, who orchestrated Walter's defection in order to protect himself from discovery. This sets up what should be a satisfying and intriguing mystery, except the clues are too obvious and Nick to obtuse to see them.

The older Nick isn't as clever as the young Nick or surely he would have solved the mystery of who was the important spy as soon as he discovered his father's lighter was found at the scene of the suicide - now surely a murder. His equally obtuse inability to understand the witness's letter and discover who was the prime mover in this family tragedy was just as frustrating to this reader who wanted to shake him and tell him to just stop and think for one minute.

Over all, this is a fine story. It's well-written. The dialogue is credible and it's emotionally satisfying. However, as a mystery it lacks subtlety.

I fell in love with Kanon's dialogue in Los Alamos but found myself ignoring the love story and wanting more mystery. The Prodigal Spy was much more to my liking in this respect. The dialogue is great, not cheesy and mundane like most books these days. The story between father and son is gripping. Normally I'm not interested in this type of story, family redemption and so on, but this book somehow made it not only work, but made it interesting. The cold war setting is well layed out, and his descriptions of Prague and its Big Brother way of life are eerily well written. It's this middle section of the book, when the protagonist visits his father in Prague and is accused of murder, when he must deal with lack of freedom in a communist state and find a way out of his mess, that really proves Kanon's ability to tell a great story. The ending seemed too quick paced, and sadly it was pretty easy to figure out who the killer was(the last five pages do contain a nice twist though). All in all I highly recomend this to anyone who likes a great history oriented story, and of course, a good old fashion spy yarn.

When I read Walter Kanon's first novel, "Los Alamos," I felt that we had a new thriller writer with real potential on our hands. That book didn't quite work, with the author spending too much time on atmosphere and the characters and not enough time on the plot. After all, in my book you read a thriller for the plot - if you want great characters and atmosphere, read Flaubert or Bellow. With "The Prodigal Spy," however, Mr. Kanon has definitely hit a home run. The characters are truly vivid, and the atmosphere of 1969 Prague is very well done indeed. But it is the plot that will stay in my mind, enthralling in its detail, complexity and surprises; all elements of the story are expertly balanced, making for a very enjoyable experience. This tale of a young man travelling behind the Iron Curtain to meet his long-lost defector father and then returning to the United States to uncover an even more important mole is worthy of comparison with le Carre, Greene and even Eric Ambler himself. I thought the denoument rather predictable, but that didn't spoil "a cracking good read." Bravo!