Publisher Description

Throughout the Cold War era, the Iron Curtain divided Central Europe into a Communist East and a democratic West, and we grew accustomed to looking at this part of the world in bipolar ideological terms. Yet many people living on both sides of the Iron Curtain considered themselves Central Europeans, and the idea of Central Europe was one of the driving forces behind the revolutionary year of 1989 as well as the deterioration of Yugoslavia and its ensuingwars. Central Europe provides a broad overview and comparative analysis of key events in a historical region that encompasses contemporary Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria,Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia. Starting with the initial conversion of the "pagan" peoples of the region to Christianity around 1000 A.D. and concluding with the revolutions of 1989 and the problems of post-Communist states today, it illuminates the distinctive nature and peculiarities of the historical development of this region as a cohesive whole. Lonnie R. Johnson introduces readers to Central Europe's heritage of diversity, the interplay of its cultures, and the origins of its maliciousethnic and national conflicts. History in Central Europe, he shows, has been epic and tragic. Throughout the ages, small nations struggled valiantly against a series of imperial powers--Ottoman Turkey,Habsburg Austria, imperial Germany, czarist Russia, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union--and they lost regularly. Johnson's account is present-minded in the best sense: in describing actual historical events, he illustrates the ways they have been remembered, and how they contribute to the national assumptions that still drive European politics today. Indeed, the constant interplay of reality and myth--the processes of myth-making and remembrance--animates much of this history. Sincethe fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the unanticipated problems of transforming post-Communist states into democracies with market economies, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the challenges ofEuropean integration have all made Central Europe the most dynamic and troubled region in Europe. In Central Europe, Johnson combines a vivid and panoramic narrative of events, a nuanced analysis of social, economic, and political developments, and a thoughtful portrait of those myths and memories that have lives of their own--and consequences for all of Europe.

Notes

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book of 1997

Back Cover

"He is the most powerful living poet."-New Republic "The interest of these essays as part of the Hill oeuvre should not obscure their value as a contribution to seventeenth-century literary studies. They represent an exacting and meticulous scholarship illuminated by the acute ear of one of our finest poets and the argumentative abilities of one of the most subtle of critics."-The Times Literary Supplement

Author Biography

Lonnie R. Johnson has taught for a variety of institutions in Vienna, Austria, and has travelled extensively in Central Europe. He currently is the editor of KOOPERATIONEN: Higher Education, Science & Research in Austria, published by the Austrian Academic Exchange Service.

Table of Contents

PrefaceIntroduction: Where is Central Europe?1.: Central Europe and the Roman Christian West, 400-10002.: Feudal Foundations, 1000-13503.: The Great Late Medieval Kingdoms4.: The Bulwarks of Christendom5.: The Counter Reformation: The Roman Catholic Church and the Habsburg Dynasty, 1550-17006.: Absolutism as Enlightenment, 1700-17907.: Nations without States, States without Nations, 1790-18488.: The Demise of Imperial Austria and the Rise of Imperial Germany, 1848-18909.: World War I and National Self-Determination, 1914-192210.: Spheres of Influence I, Germany and the Soviet Union11.: Spheres of Influence II, East and West or "Yalta Europe"12.: The Failure of Eastern Europe, 1956-1989Epilogue: Postrevolutionary Paradoxes: Central Europe since 1989NotesIndex

Review

"Central Europe has finally re-entered the cultural world of Western Europe and the United States....Lonnie Johnson has come along with a book which is extremely useful not only for courses on Central Europe but will be indispensable to readers whose knowledge of European ideas is generally limited to the Western half of the continent." --István Deák, Columbia University"Written by a sophisticated historical analyst, this book is nevertheless more accessible to non-specialists than any comparable work. Lonnie Johnson explains the region's paradoxes objectively, but also with deep sympathy....Students, travelers, officials, and businessmen who wish to understand the contradicitons of this vital, appealing, but often alarming heart of Europe must read this illuminating narrative."--Daniel Chirot, University of Washington

Promotional

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book of 1997

Prizes

Winner of CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book of 1997.

Long Description

Throughout the Cold War era, the Iron Curtain divided Central Europe into a Communist East and a democratic West, and we grew accustomed to looking at this part of the world in bipolar ideological terms. Yet many people living on both sides of the Iron Curtain considered themselves Central Europeans, and the idea of Central Europe was one of the driving forces behind the revolutionary year of 1989 as well as the deterioration of Yugoslavia and its ensuing
wars. Central Europe provides a broad overview and comparative analysis of key events in a historical region that encompasses contemporary Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia. Starting with the initial conversion of the "pagan" peoples of the region
to Christianity around 1000 A.D. and concluding with the revolutions of 1989 and the problems of post-Communist states today, it illuminates the distinctive nature and peculiarities of the historical development of this region as a cohesive whole. Lonnie R. Johnson introduces readers to Central Europe's heritage of diversity, the interplay of its cultures, and the origins of its malicious ethnic and national conflicts. History in Central Europe, he shows, has been epic and tragic. Throughout
the ages, small nations struggled valiantly against a series of imperial powers--Ottoman Turkey, Habsburg Austria, imperial Germany, czarist Russia, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union--and they lost regularly. Johnson's account is present-minded in the best sense: in describing actual historical
events, he illustrates the ways they have been remembered, and how they contribute to the national assumptions that still drive European politics today. Indeed, the constant interplay of reality and myth--the processes of myth-making and remembrance--animates much of this history. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the unanticipated problems of transforming post-Communist states into democracies with market economies, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the challenges of
European integration have all made Central Europe the most dynamic and troubled region in Europe. In Central Europe, Johnson combines a vivid and panoramic narrative of events, a nuanced analysis of social, economic, and political developments, and a thoughtful portrait of those myths and memories
that have lives of their own--and consequences for all of Europe.

Review Text

"Central Europe has finally re-entered the cultural world of Western Europe and the United States.... Lonnie Johnson has come along with a book which is extremely useful not only for courses on Central Europe but will be indispensable to readers whose knowledge of European ideas is generally limited to the Western half of the continent." --István Deák, Columbia University
"Written by a sophisticated historical analyst, this book is nevertheless more accessible to non-specialists than any comparable work. Lonnie Johnson explains the region's paradoxes objectively, but also with deep sympathy.... Students, travelers, officials, and businessmen who wish to understand the contradicitons of this vital, appealing, but often alarming heart of Europe must read this illuminating narrative."--Daniel Chirot, University of Washington

Review Quote

"Written by a sophisticated historical analyst, this book is nevertheless more accessible to non-specialists than any comparable work. Lonnie Johnson explains the region's paradoxes objectively, but also with deep sympathy.... Students, travelers, officials, and businessmen who wish tounderstand the contradicitons of this vital, appealing, but often alarming heart of Europe must read this illuminating narrative."--Daniel Chirot, University of Washington

Feature

Selling point: Focuses on the region rather than individual countries, thus looking at a bigger picture
Selling point: Corrects much anti-German bias in other histories of Central Europe
Selling point: Illustrates the origins and uses of "national myths" and shows which are false
Selling point: Most up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the region--closest competition is Wandycz's The Price of Freedom, published by Routledge in 1992 and now quite out of date.

Details