CONTEXTS - The Rough Guide to Prague - page 374

BOOKS
A great deal of Czech fiction and poetry has been translated into English and is easily
available.ThekeymomentsinCzechtwentieth-centuryhistoryarealsowellcoveredin
English. More recently, there have been a whole number of books published in English
inPrague,andfortheseyoumayneedtogotooneofthecity'sEnglish-language book-
stores . Books marked with the symbol are particularly recommended.
HISTORY, POLITICS AND SOCIETY
Chad Bryant Prague in Black . Intriguing scholarly investigation of the roots of Czech na-
tionalism, first under Nazi occupation and then during the lead-up to the 1948 Communist
coup.
Peter Demetz Prague in Black and Gold: Scenes from the Life of a European City . Demetz
certainly knows his subject, both academically and at first hand, having been brought up in
thecitybeforeWorldWarII(whenhisaccountends).Hisstylecanbealittledry,butheisde-
terminedly un-partisan, and refreshingly anti-nationalist in his reading of history. In Prague
in Danger the author intersperses his even-handed, objective account of resistance under the
Nazi occupation with personal anecdotes of living as a Mischling , or “half Jew”, in Prague
through that period.
R.J.W. Evans Rudolf II and his World . First published in 1973, and still the best account of
the alchemy-mad emperor, but not as salacious as one might hope.
Jan Kaplan and Krystyna Nosarzewska Prague: The Turbulent Century . This is the first
real attempt to cover the twentieth-century history of Prague with all its warts. The text isn't
as good as it should be, but the topic is worth it just for the incredible range of photographs
and images.
KarelKaplan The Short March: The Communist Takeover in Czechoslovakia, 1945-48 . An
excellentaccountoftheelectoralriseandriseoftheCommunistsinCzechoslovakiaafterthe
war, which culminated in the bloodless coup of February 1948. Report on the Murder of the
General Secretary is an incredibly detailed study of the country's brutal Stalinist show trials,
and most famously that of Rudolf Slánský, number two in the Party until his arrest.
Callum MacDonald The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich . Gripping account of the
build-up to the most successful and controversial act of wartime resistance, which took place
in May 1942, and prompted horrific reprisals by the Nazis on the Czechs.
Peter Marshall The Theatre of the World: Alchemy, Astrology and Magic in Renaissance
Prague . Detailed account of Rudolf II's court and its famous luminaries: Tycho Brahe,
Kepler, Arcimboldo and the magic makers.