Československo - Stát, který zklamal – Heimannová Mary (2020)

Mary Heimann’s historical study of Czechoslovakia is unusually passionate, uncompromising, and harsh. It follows the country from its foundation in 1918 to its division in 1992, covering the emerging democracy, the Nazi occupation, the Communist dictatorship, the Soviet invasion, normalization, and the return to democracy. Its greatest strength is that it does not try to please Czech or Slovak readers. History should not be propaganda, should not create flattering myths of exceptionalism, heroism, or suffering, and should not conceal or excuse the past. Heimann approaches the history of Czechoslovakia through the narrative of its national minorities and their relationship with the artificial “Czechoslovak” majority. The central theme is the clash of continually dissatisfied nationalisms, later intensified by the irrationality of totalitarian ideologies. This is an unconventional perspective that departs from the established Prague-centred view of the past. The first English edition, published by Yale University Press in 2009, provoked strong reactions. It was condemned by the Czech consul general in Los Angeles, while others welcomed it as a “shocking mirror” and a challenge to traditional views of Czechoslovakia as a victim. The Times Literary Supplement praised it as a history of not only Czechs and Slovaks, but also the many other peoples and religious communities who lived in the country. This Czech-language edition presents Heimann’s controversial interpretation of twentieth-century Czechoslovak history.