analyticali's review against another edition
3.0
If, like me, you are fascinated by the Velvet Revolution and Havel and Prague, then you will enjoy this well-written, in-the-moment account of 1989's four peaceful changes from communism to democracy in Central Europe.
mmsequeira's review against another edition
5.0
Great book. To the author's insight one must add the fact that he witnessed the events firsthand and that he writes wonderfully. The result is a book that must be read, if possible followed by The File: a Personal History (I read them in the wrong order). Knowing the past helps you understand better the present, it is said. That's exactly how I feel, having just finished the book. The importance of people such as Václav Havel and even Václav Klaus, the current president of the Czech Republic, is make very clear. Especially in the case of Václav Klaus, one understands better his reluctance to sign the Lisbon Treaty or to go along the global warming scare. I bought this book in the shop of the The Lobkowicz Collections (http://www.lobkowicz-collections.org), which itself is a remarkable case of procedural justice that could only have happened in a country that suffered decades under a communist regime. Not having had that experience, the rest of Europe does not really understand the true, deep meaning of distributive (in)justice.
voidboi's review against another edition
3.0
I wish I'd had a little more time to read this, the rushed school aspect of it didn't really help. But it's a solid book, really clear and evocative writing. It's clear that the author is a trained journalist. I found the perspective particularly interesting, as it was written only a year or so after the events described.
sophronisba's review against another edition
4.0
I was a little skeptical of this book just because it is thirty years old at this point, but I found it well worth reading. Getting an up-close view of how the revolutionaries saw their movement in 1990 gives context for a lot of what we are seeing in Europe today. There are definitely moments that don't hold up particularly well--at one point Ash is quite dismissive of the possibility of a rise in nationalism in Eastern Europe, and yet here we are.
My edition of this book concludes with an epilogue written within the last year. Ash concludes that "The West’s mistake after 1989 was not that we celebrated what happened in Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest as a triumph of liberal, European, and Western values. It was all of that. Our mistake was to imagine that this was now the norm, the new normal, the way history was going." And I find that sadly hard to argue with.
My edition of this book concludes with an epilogue written within the last year. Ash concludes that "The West’s mistake after 1989 was not that we celebrated what happened in Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest as a triumph of liberal, European, and Western values. It was all of that. Our mistake was to imagine that this was now the norm, the new normal, the way history was going." And I find that sadly hard to argue with.
krista7's review
3.0
This is the author's brief reflections on his experience of the 1989 Revolutions in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The essays are entirely readable, and make several good points: a comparison of the various political entities (noting that Poland was "professional" in its political protest movement, in comparison to Czechoslovakia) and the shocking "ordinary" steps taken by people in protest of Communism. (Indeed, a theme in the book is the actions of regular people, like an elderly person who collared TGA at the Polish elections to make sure he was voting against Communism in his selection of candidates.) Overall, TGA asks (in 1990) whether this is the dawn of "Central Europe," since Eastern Europe as a notion was linked intrinsically to the Soviet system.
Overall, the book is thoughtful and provides important witness insight into the events of 1989. The author's self-insertion does stand out (he takes credit for the 10 months/10 weeks/10 days comment, famous during the Revolution), but that's a small issue in an otherwise valuable book.
Overall, the book is thoughtful and provides important witness insight into the events of 1989. The author's self-insertion does stand out (he takes credit for the 10 months/10 weeks/10 days comment, famous during the Revolution), but that's a small issue in an otherwise valuable book.
More...