The Prague Spring and its Aftermath: Czechoslovak Politics, 1968-1970 / Edition 1

by Kieran Williams

Overview

The Prague Spring of 1968 was among the most important episodes in postwar European politics—one of the few pre-Gorbachev attempts to reform one-party communist rule. In this book Kieran Williams analyzes the attempt at reform under Alexander Dubcek and its suppression by the Soviet Union, using archive materials and other sources that have become available in the wake of the 1989 revolution. The book will provide new information for specialists as well as introductory analysis and narrative for students of East European politics and history and Soviet foreign policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521588034
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/08/1997
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

Part I. Liberalization, Intervention and Normalization: 1. Liberalization; 2. Intervention; 3. Normalization; Part II. January 1968–December 1970; 4. The erosion of Soviet trust; 5. The failure of Operation Danube; 6. Dubcek's normalization; 7. The realist ascendancy; 8. The security police in the Dubcek period; 9. After Dubcek.

Editorial Reviews

"Williams's study is richly detailed, clearly written and organized, and focuses mostly on political elites. It provides new information for specialists as well as insight to those who come to the topic for the first time." Choice

"This book is, however, distinctive in its thorough use of Czechoslovak archival sources, which offer striking documentation of the attitudes of the principal actors in the story." H. Gordon Skilling, American Historical Review

"...Williams skillfully reconstructs the events leading up to the August 1968 invasion and the period of ‘normalization' that followed." Fred Eidlin, Slavic Review

From the Publisher