Derek Sayer

The title of this book is a quote from Shakespeare: "Thou art perfect then our ship hath touched upon the deserts of Bohemia?" ('The Winter's Tale'. Act 3, scene 3). No, he didn't know where Bohemia was, and didn't much care. 350 years later, a British politician referred to Czechoslovakia as "a far-away country of which we know little". A shame, as we ended up going to war partially on its behalf.

This book takes a specific look at Bohemia, which together with Moravia now forms the Czech Republic. Along the way, we learn a lot more about the country that I grew up thinking of as "Czechoslovakia". This book deals with the whole history of that land, through its independence, to its incorporation into the Austro-Hungarian Empire and ends with the absorbtion of Czechoslovakia into the Soviet sphere of influence after World War II - thus treating the Velvet Revolution of 1989 (which is mentioned in passing) as a wholly new page of history that is still being written.… (mere)