In this book of essays, the world-famous political scientist looks at Central European historical events.

Essay

From the establishment of Czechoslovakia to contemporary attitudes to migration and the European Union – such is the historical scope of Jacques Rupnik’s examination of Czech political history in a Central European context. The oldest text is from 1974 and the most recent from 2018. The volume includes a number of texts previously published by Rupnik, often in other languages. The reflections and lectures are analytical, with a detached view and a firm grasp of context. The author has grouped his contributions into three sections: National Identity and Nationalism, Czech Society and Communism, Czech Transformation and European Integration.

Jacques Rupnik (1950) is a political scientist, historian and journalist specializing in Central and Eastern Europe. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and at Harvard University. He is the author of several books about Eastern Europe and European integration. He worked with the dissident and Czech exile community up until the end of the 1980s. From 1982 he was a professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris. From 1974 to 1975 he was a researcher at Harvard University’s Russian Research Center and from 1977 to 1982 he worked as an expert on Eastern Europe for the BBC World Service. From 1999 to 2000 he was a member of the Independent International Commission for Kosovo. From 1990 to 1992 he worked as an advisor to President Václav Havel. He is currently a professor at the College of Europe in Bruges and director of research at the Fondation des Sciences Politiques in Paris.