a history of the czechsby a. h. hermann

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A History of the Czechs by A. H. Hermann Review by: F. L. Carsten The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Oct., 1976), p. 634 Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4207366 . Accessed: 16/06/2014 23:39 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Slavonic and East European Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 195.34.79.49 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 23:39:30 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: A History of the Czechsby A. H. Hermann

A History of the Czechs by A. H. HermannReview by: F. L. CarstenThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Oct., 1976), p. 634Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4207366 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 23:39

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and EastEuropean Studies are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Slavonic andEast European Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.49 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 23:39:30 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: A History of the Czechsby A. H. Hermann

634 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

terms the real significance of the passions aroused by the Bulgarian atroci- ties was that the issue brought Gladstone, after his withdrawal from the leadership of the Liberal party in January 1875, back into the centre of the political arena. There he was to remain for almost two decades more, a fact with immense repercussions on many aspects of British political life. This is not, therefore, a book about the 'Eastern Question' or even about British party politics. It is rather an analysis, subtle and perceptive, of some of the psychological and emotional foundations upon which political attitudes and allegiance in late-Victorian Britain rested. London M. S. ANDERSON

Hermann, A. H. A History of the Czechs. Allen Lane, London, 1975. 324 pp. Maps. Index. ?6.

THIS short history of the Czech lands from prehistoric times to 1971 covers more than two millennia by devoting fifty pages to the first I200 years, and another sixty to the period from I620 to 1914; hence most of the space is given to a description of independent Czechoslovakia, not only its politics, but also its art, literature and music, as well as the Republic's financial and economic affairs. Here the author-a victim of the purges who left his country after the events of I968-has many interesting things to say, for example on Czech-Slovak friction, on the role of the banks under the first Republic, on the Bata shoe factory, on the Czech Communist Party, its factions and the leading part played in it by intellectuals, writers and poets. These short chapters are well written and informative and at the same time they give much scope to the author's individual interpretation. Unfortunately, however, he has not always checked his facts, and there are innumerable small errors, of which only some can be mentioned here. The 'Battenbergs' figure for the Baben- bergers and the 'river Hare' for the Aare (p. I8). The Peace of Augsburg was concluded in 1555, not in I548 (P. 49); and 'Soviet rule in Hungary' was not terminated 'by the end of I92I' (P. 203), but in August I9I9, and was not Soviet rule anyhow. R. W. Seton-Watson was never 'editor of the Times' (p. I27), and Thomas Masaryk never 'a professor at the School of Slavonic Studies of London University' (p. I64); nor was Alexander Bach ever 'a prime minister' of the Habsburg Monarchy (p. 98). Equally irritating is the author's habit to use the term Czech instead of Bohemian for the late medieval and early modern periods. He speaks of the 'Czech throne', 'Czech barons' and 'Czech Estates' when he means those of the kingdom of Bohemia where not all the barons and Estates were Czech. The battle of the White Mountain did not mean 'the end of an independent Czech kingdom' (p. 59) because no such kingdom had existed before, and one wonders what Maria Theresa would have thought of her description as a 'Czech queen' (pp. 79, 8I). The author obviously is not an historian, but he could at least have curbed his enthusiasm for all things Czech which lets him adopt a Czech spelling even for very ordinary Latin words, and makes him praise Czechoslovakia as 'more democratic than Britain' (p. 12 1). London F. L. CARSTEN

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.49 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 23:39:30 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions