Czechoslovakia: the Velvet Revolution and Beyond

Czechoslovakia, one of the most rigid and authoritarian of the former Soviet Union's satellite states, started the transition from communism with high hopes. But a decade of change has exposed the full extent of the damage wrought to the country through decades of communist rule. For one thing, the country could not hold together, splitting apart into two independent states in 1993. This book looks at the political and economic changes of two countries in transition and argues that much remains to be done before they have shaken off the legacy of a particularly harsh communist past.