New Books in Eastern European Studies

Nathaniel WoodView on AmazonWhen I began my graduate history, virtually all my fellow apprentice historians of  eastern Europe were captivated by nationalism and focused their research accordingly.  Of particular interest was how people from nobles to peasants came to identify themselves as part of a common national identity as society modernized.  Nathaniel Wood was as caught up in this trend as the rest of us, but as he began his research of the nascent boulevard press in Cracow, he discovered a quite different identity issue was of central concern, what it meant for Cracow and Cracovians that their city was  becoming a metropolitan center.  In Becoming Metropolitan: Urban Selfhood and the Making of Modern Cracow (Northern Illinois University Press, 2010) Wood tells an engaging story about how Cracow, a city associated more with the glories of its medieval past adapted to modernity, expanding its geographical boundaries, adopted to new transportation technologies like the electric tram and the car, and came to be seen by its citizens as part of a larger community of large cities throughout Europe.

Gale StokesView on AmazonEurope may currently be in crisis dand riven with divisions, but at least it's a Europe of independent states. It was not always so. The Soviets dominated Eastern Europe for nearly half a century following the defeat of the Nazis. And for most of that time it seemed Soviet domination would never end. Then, unexpectedly, the Berlin Wall was no more. Eastern European states that had limited experience with democracy and open society began feeling their way forward and aspiring to become full fledged members of Europe. Many now are. Gale Stokes first wrote about how this monumental transformation happened in the first edition of The Walls Came Tumbling Down in 1993.  He has now updated that story (The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Collapse and Rebirth in Eastern Europe, Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2011) to provide thorough and readable accounts of the brutal collapse of Yugoslavia and the coming of age of the former Soviet satellites and their accession to the European Union.  By its nature, it is a complex story with many different perspectives, and Stokes tells it in a fashion that novices to the region can understand, but with insights that experts in the field will find stimulating.

Timothy SnyderView on AmazonNeville Chamberlain described Czechoslovakia as a far away land we know little about. He could have said it about any of the countries of east-central Europe.  Yet, for the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany east-central Europe, was of prime imp ortance in ways that would have horrible consequences for the people who made it their home, especially in the territories of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltics and western Russia.  Timothy Snyder calls these areas "the Bloodlands," and with good reason. In Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (Basic Books, 2010) he explores how two regimes with quite different perspectives ended up perpetrating mass murder on an unprecedented level in that region. Comparisons of Stalinism and Nazism are hardly new, but Snyder's book is not a classical comparative study.  Rather, it is an attempt to understand how the leaders of the USSR and Nazi Germany thought about the future of the region, and why their visions–despite being very different–both necessitated mass murder. The resulting insights lead to new understanding of both the Great Terror and the Holocaust.

Matthew KellyView on Amazon[Crossposted from New Books in European Studies] Very little illustrates history as well as the personal story. For all of the wars, deportations and suffering of the mid Twentieth Century, it's only when there are real people that the figures come alive. Luckily there are some very good books out there that help us get our heads around the otherwise near-incomprehensible, and Matthew Kelly's book Finding Poland: From Tavistock to Hruzdowa and Back Again (Jonathan Cape, 2010) can be added to that list. Matthew's book is about a family that was finding its feet in inter-war Poland, before history happened to them. First the country was divided between the Nazis and the Soviets, before they were deported to the USSR. The story takes them from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Persia, India and – finally – Devon, in England's lush West Country. Matthew helps us to understand what this remarkable journey was like for those involved – partly because they are his own family. The book is full of personal photographs and letters, which help bring the family to life. It gives insights into historical events, both large (deportations; the formation of General Anders' Polish army) and small (life for an aspirant Polish family in the east of the country in the 1930s; teenage girls coming of age in a Polish community in British India). Above all, it's a really enjoyable read. I recommend it!

Louis MenasheView on AmazonDid you see one of Eisenstein's masterpieces "The Battleship Potemkin" and "Alexander Nevsky" in a Russian or Soviet history class? Were you captivated by Tarkovsky's brooding long shots in movies such as "Solaris" and "Stalker"? Did you seek out Pichul's "Little Vera" in the theater to get a glimpse of the new openness ushered in by Glasnost? If you did, or even more if you did not, Louis Menashe's Moscow Believes in Tears: Russians and Their Movies (New Academia, 2011) offers a valuable entre into Soviet and Russian film, especially during the Gorbachev years. (Full disclosure: Menashe and I used to share an office. He taught me a lot, so I'm somewhat biased.) Menashe has long used Soviet film as a medium for discussing Russian and Soviet society in the classroom, thus the essays in this book will be of use to teachers. But beyond being a handy pedagogical resource, the book is a valuable history of Soviet cinema in the "Era of Stagnation," Glasnost, and the Post-Soviet period. He argues that many very high quality films were made in the "Era of Stagnation," though some were not shown. During Glasnost, these "lost" films made it into the theater to wide acclaim. Things were looking up. Yet, Monashe says, just as Gorbachev failed to create the foundation for an enduring open society, his Post-Soviet successors have failed to nurture a new generation of filmmakers to rival the creativity of the great Soviet directors.

Padraic KenneyView on Amazon[Crossposted from New Books in History] There are certain dates that every European historian knows. Among them are 1348 (The Black Death), 1517 (The Reformation), 1648 (The Peace of Westphalia),  1789 (The French Revolution), 1848 (The Revolutions of 1848), 1914 (The beginning of World War I), 1933 (Hitler comes to power), and 1945 (The end of World War II). Two decades ago we added another date to the roster of "historical" years–1989. In '89 the world really did change: the hallmark of an entire historical epoch–the struggle between the Capitalist West and the Communist East–came to a sudden end. The Berlin Wall came down, the Soviets withdrew from Eastern Europe, the Communist Parties of Eastern Europe relinquished power, new democratic states emerged, and people danced in the streets. At least for a while. To say that nobody saw '89 coming would be a bit of an exaggeration: people had been predicting the decline of Soviet power in Eastern Europe for decades. Like all regularly made predictions ("Prices will fall…"), this one eventually came true. Still, the events of '89 were unexpected. What the heck happened? If anyone knows, it's Padraic Kenney. Not only has he spent his entire (prodigious) scholarly career studying modern Eastern European history, but he was there when it all happened. He published the classic account of '89 in '93 (A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989 (Princeton UP, 2003)) and since then two other books about it as well (The Burdens of Freedom. Eastern Europe Since 1989 (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2006); 1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End (Bedford-St. Martin's, 2009). In this interview, he tells us how it all went down (or up, depending on your perspective). Please become a fan of "New Books in Eastern European Studies" on Facebook if you haven't already.

Stephen KotkinView on Amazon[Crossposted from New Books in History] Why did communism collapse so rapidly in Eastern Europe in 1989? The answer commonly given at the time was that something called "civil society," having grown mighty in the 1980s, overthrew it. I've always been more than a little uncomfortable with both the idea of "civil society" and this explanation. The former is very difficult to define. Is "civil society" the same as "the opposition?" Is it something like the "public sphere" (another slippery though very popular notion)? Or is it just a trendy synonym for "the people," as in "of the people, by the people, for the people?" The explanation is theoretically (and politically) comforting, but it doesn't make much sense empirically. With the exception of Poland, most Eastern European states had minuscule "civil societies" under almost any reasonable definition. And even in Poland, "civil society" did not bring Solidarity to power–bungling Communists did. In Uncivil Society: 1989 and the Implosion of the Communist Establishment (The Modern Library, 2009), Stephen Kotkin (with a contribution by Jan Gross) confirms all my suspicions. The Communist Parties of Eastern Europe ruled their territories more or less completely; there was no significant organized opposition in any of them, again, with the exception of Poland. Therefore when we look for reasons for their sudden rupture, we should look at their own doings, since they were in effect the masters of their own fate. Had they succeeded in building wealthy, democratic communist societies–that was, after all, their ostensible aim–they would probably still be in power today. But they failed utterly. Once they came to realize this, they lost faith in their own project and more or less gave it up, though not exactly willingly. Kotkin tells the tale of how they did so in spirited, direct prose. The book a joy to read, the more so because it is brief and often funny. If you are interested in contemporary affairs, you would do well to read it; if you teach contemporary history, you would do well to assign it to your students. Please become a fan of "New Books in Eastern European Studies" on Facebook if you haven't already.

Tim SnyderView on Amazon[Crossposted from New Books in History] Tim Snyder has written a great book. It's called The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of A Habsburg Archduke (Basic, 2008). Of course it's thoroughly researched. Tim's read all the literature and visited all the archives. Of course it's historically revealing. Tim's told a story that no one has told before. And of course it's relevant. The book is about empires becoming nations, an ongoing process in Russia, China, and India. We expect all this from a top-notch historian working in a field he knows like the back of his hand. But Tim has done more. He's written a serious history book that is enjoyable to read. How'd he do it? Well, Tim's picked the right subject: an Eastern European prince with dreams of uniting a "nation" that didn't exist. Did I mention said prince liked to dress as a woman, consort with sailors, and slum in Montmartre? Tim's picked the right voice: witty, knowing, and ironic, but never sarcastic. Irony is hard; sarcasm is easy. Tim's picked the right style: rich enough to delight, but spare enough to let the story shine through. Think of Hemingway with the occasional understated joke. I've long aspired to write a book like this. Now that I've read one, maybe I can. Please become a fan of "New Books in Eastern European Studies" on Facebook if you haven't already.