The Prague Spring, 1968
Compiled and edited by Jaromir Navratil with
Antonin Bencik,
Vaclav Kural, Marie Michalkova, and
Jitka Vondrova
With a preface by Vaclav Havel and a forword
by H. Gordon Skilling
"The volume constitutes an unparalleled resource of
primary documentation on the events of 1968, which is
of inestimable value for future researchers, and equally
valuable for classroom use and for a broader attentive
public."
- from the foreword by H. Gordon Skilling, University
of Toronto
"The Prague Spring '68 helps answer the question of
why the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia as it had Hungary,
while it overlooked insubordination elsewhere."
- New York Times
"This work, the first to document the invasion of
Czechoslovakia from the viewpoints of the nations of
the Iron Curtain and the West, is a spectacular contribution
to the area of political studies. Indeed this work is
a tribute to the unification of the Czech and Slovak
peoples against a force which greatly outnumbered them
in manpower and outweighed them in sheer strength.this
work is a must for scholars of political and social
studies, as well as for historians. However, the non-scholar
is equally important when one looks at the scope of
the historical and political content of this immense
effort."
- Slavic and East European Journal
This is the first ever documented account of a Cold
War crisis as seen from both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Based on unprecedented access to the previously closed
archives of each member-state of the Warsaw Pact, this
book offers a unique look at a deeply divisive intra-bloc
crisis.
Presented in a highly readable form, the book offers
top-level documents from Kremlin Politburo meetings,
multi-lateral sessions of the Warsaw Pact leading up
to the decision to invade, and even transcriptions of
KGB-recorded phone conversations between Leonid Brezhnev
and Alexander Dubcek. Once highly classified American
documents from the National Security Council, CIA, and
other relevant agencies acquired through the U.S. Freedom
of Information Act have also been included.
In order to provide a historical and political context,
the editors have included an introductory essay for
each section of the volume. A chronology, glossary,
and bibliography offer further background information
for the reader. As members of the commission appointed
by Václav Havel to investigate the events of 1967-1970,
the editors have a unique Czech-Slovak perspective to
offer to foreign audiences.
Jaromír Navrátil holds a Ph.D. in military history
from the Military Political Academy, Moscow, and a Doctorate
of Law from Masaryk University, Brno.
Contents
Preface: Foreword: Introduction: Chapter
1: A prelude to the Prague Spring of 1968 Chapter
2: From January to Dresden Chapter 3: Revision,
reform, revolution? Chapter 4: The July crisis
Chapter 5: August - the month of intervention
Chapter 6: The aftermath Chapter 7: Documentary
epilogue
1998
596 pages
ISBN 978-963-9116-67-7 paperback $35.00
/ €25.95 / £23.99
Published in the series: National Security Cold War
Readers
ISSN 1587-2416
|
