Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 368 pages
• Published by: Oxford University Press, USA
• Edition: 2nd Edition August 16, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0195148258
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0195148251
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 1.1 pounds

Product Review

Praise for the previous edition
"He manages to make an enormous expanse of history accessible to the average reader in very few pages. There are not many books that set the historical context for this part of the world so well."--Foreign Affairs
"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 contradictions of this vital, appealing, but often alarming heart of Europe must read this illuminating narrative."--Daniel Chirot, University of Washington
"Johnson's superb survey, rich with historical insights and well-drawn descriptions of events and people, focuses on a region too little known and understood in the U.S. Fine maps, effective illustrations, and an admirably clear and engaging writing style enhance a work that is sure to become a standard."--P.W. Knoll, University of Southern California
"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."--Istvan Deak, Columbia University


Product Description
This historical survey of Central Europe covers a region that encompasses contemporary Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia. Now in its second edition, Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends contains a new epilogue-updated to cover events since 1995-and several redesigned or updated maps. Each chapter is thematically organized around issues or events that are important in helping students develop an understanding of the region's internal dynamics. Johnson illuminates the competing religious, cultural, economic, national, and ideological interests that have driven the history of Central Europe. Thorough, objective, and focused, Johnson's work stands out as both a useful core text covering an area of growing interest and a brilliant account of a region that is only just beginning to receive the attention it deserves.

Reader Reviews
This is easily the best history of Central Europe available for the general reader (or the student). Johnson always keeps the big picture in mind, while moving the reader though events and people that are unfamiliar to most Americans. Johnson has organized the material to do what you probably want it to do. Chapters on the last 150 years or so cover only a couple of decades each, while the earlier chapters cover centuries. He keeps his eyes on each of the modern countries in the region, while discussing the larger empires that have buffeted them this way and that. While it would make a good text for an undergraduate course, I think the book's real value is for the traveler. Read the first half of the book before you go to Central Europe, and then read about more recent events while you are there. You'll gain an added appreciation for the sights and for the historical context that produced them.