A sweeping history of a twentieth-century Prague torn between fascism, communism, and democracy-with lessons for a world again threatened by dictatorship Postcards from Absurdistan is a cultural history of Prague from 1938, when the Nazis destroyed Czechoslovakia's artistically vibrant liberal democracy, to 1989, when the country's socialist regime collapsed after more than four decades of communist party rule. Derek Sayer shows that Prague's twentieth century, far from being a story of inexorable progress toward some "end ...
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A sweeping history of a twentieth-century Prague torn between fascism, communism, and democracy-with lessons for a world again threatened by dictatorship Postcards from Absurdistan is a cultural history of Prague from 1938, when the Nazis destroyed Czechoslovakia's artistically vibrant liberal democracy, to 1989, when the country's socialist regime collapsed after more than four decades of communist party rule. Derek Sayer shows that Prague's twentieth century, far from being a story of inexorable progress toward some "end of history," whether fascist, communist, or democratic, was a tragicomedy of recurring nightmares played out in a land Czech dissidents dubbed Absurdistan. Situated in the eye of the storms that shaped the modern world, Prague holds up an unsettling mirror to the absurdities and dangers of our own times. In a brilliant narrative, Sayer weaves a vivid montage of the lives of individual Praguers-poets and politicians, architects and athletes, journalists and filmmakers, artists, musicians, and comedians-caught up in the crosscurrents of the turbulent half century following the Nazi invasion. This is the territory of the ideologist, the collaborator, the informer, the apparatchik, the dissident, the outsider, the torturer, and the refugee-not to mention the innocent bystander who is always looking the other way and V�clav Havel's greengrocer whose knowing complicity allows the show to go on. Over and over, Prague exposes modernity's dreamworlds of progress as confections of kitsch. In a time when democracy is once again under global assault, Postcards from Absurdistan is an unforgettable portrait of a city that illuminates the predicaments of the modern world.
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Add this copy of Postcards From Absurdistan: Prague at the End of to cart. $30.00, like new condition, Sold by Maxwell's House of Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from La Mesa, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Princeton University Press.
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New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 752 p. Contains: Illustrations. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of Postcards from Absurdistan: Prague at the End of to cart. $53.20, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Postcards from Absurdistan: Prague at the End of to cart. $53.90, like new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Princeton University Press.
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Fine. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 752 p. Contains: Illustrations. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.