The Czech Reader brings together more than 150 primary texts and illustrations to convey the dramatic history of the Czechs, from the emergence of the Czech state in the tenth century, through the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 and the Czech Republic in 1993, into the twenty-first century. The Slav-speaking Czechs have lived for more than a millennium surrounded on three sides by German-speaking people. The Czechs have preserved their language, traditions, and customs, despite their incorporation into the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Third Reich, and the Eastern Bloc. Organized chronologically, the selections in The Czech Reader include the letter to the Czech people written by the religious reformer and national hero Jan Hus in 1415, and Charter 77, the founding document of an influential anticommunist initiative launched in 1977 in reaction to the arrest of the Plastic People of the Universe, an underground rock band. There is a speech given in 1941 by Reinhard Heydrich, a senior Nazi official and Deputy Reich-Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, as well as one written by Vaclav Havel in 1984 for an occasion abroad, but read by the Czech-born British dramatist Tom Stoppard, since Havel, the dissident playwright and future national leader, was not allowed to leave Czechoslovakia. Among the songs, poems, folklore, fiction, plays, paintings, and photographs of monuments and architectural landmarks are "Let Us Rejoice," the most famous chorus from Bedrich Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride; a letter the composer Antonin Dvorak sent from New York, where he directed the National Conservatory of Music in the 1890s; a story by Franz Kafka; and an excerpt from Milan Kundera's The Joke. Intended for travellers, students, and scholars alike, The Czech Reader is a rich introduction to the turbulent history and resilient culture of the Czech people.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION I.BETWEEN MYTH AND HISTORY (The Premyslid Dynasty) Report on a Journey to Prague in 965 / Ibrahim ibn Yaqub at-Turtushi; Legend of Saints Cyril, Methodius, Wenceslas and Ludmila / Kristian; Bohemian Chronicle / Cosmas; Letter to Agnes of Prague / Clare of Assisi II. NAVEL OF THE WORLD (Charles IV) Chronicle of the Prague Church / Bene' Krabice of Weitmile; The Ointment Seller / Anonymous; Tkadlecek / Anonymous III. AGAINST EVERYONE (Hussite Revolution) Letter to the Czechs / Jan Hus; Who are God's Warriors? / Hussite hymn; Letter to the Hussites / Joan of Arc; The Net of Faith / Petr Chelcicky IV. STRUGGLES FOR CITY, COURT, COUNTRY (Vladislav II-Rudolph II) Dove and Picture / Elizabeth Jane Weston; To the Memory of Tycho Brahe / Jan Campanus; Description of Prague in the time of Rudolph II / Pierre Bergeron; Letter of Majesty of Rudolph II V. DEFEATED PROTESTANTS, VICTORIOUS CATHOLICS (Ferdinand II-Charles VI) Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart / Komensky; Jan of Nepomuk / Bohuslav Balbin; The Rakovnice Christmas Play / Anonymous VI. FROM THE ENLIGHTENMENT TO ROMANTIC NATIONALISM (Maria Teresa to the Revolution of 1848) On Slav Nations / Johann Gottfried Herder; Ms. of Zelena Hora (Judgment of Libu'e) / Hoax; Home Cookery / Magdalena Dobromila Rettigova; History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia / Franti'ek Palacky; May / Karel Hynek Macha; Where is My Home? / Josef Kajetan Tyl VII. DEFEATED POLITICIANS, VICTORIOUS INTELLECTUALS (1848-1867) Water Sprite / Karel J. Erben; Grandmother / Bouena Nemcova; "Let Us Rejoice" from Bartered Bride / Bedrich Smetana; libretto by Karel Sabina VIII. FROM NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION TO COSMOPOLITANISM (1867-1918) The Three Lilies / Jan Neruda; The Ballad of Blanik / Jaroslav Vrchlicky; Late Towards Morning / Karel Hlavacek; Letter from the New World / Antonin Dvorak; Golem / Alois Jirasek; Report to an Academy / Franz Kafka; Sole Work / Otokar Brezina; Marycka Magdonova / Petr Bezruc IX. THE FIRST CZECHOSLOVAK REPUBLIC (1918-1938) The Fateful Adventures of Good Soldier evejk / Jaroslav Ha'ek; R.U.R. / Karel Capek; Valerie and Her Week of Wonders / Vitezslav Nezval; Summer of Caprice / Vladislav Vancura X. BETWEEN HITLER AND STALIN (1938-1948) Munich Agreement; At the Tomb of Czech Kings / Jaroslav Seifert; Life with a Star / Jiri Weil; On the Elimination of the Czech People / Reinhard Heydrich; The Cowards / Josef ekvorecky; A Little Boy's Hair Was Cut Right down to the Scalp / Josef Kainar XI. "IDEAL" SOCIALISM (1948-1968) From the Last Letters / Milada Horakova; Cigarette / Ivan Blatny; Prometheus's Liver / Jiri Kolar; A Night with Hamlet / Vladimir Holan; The Garden Party / Vaclav Havel; The Joke / Milan Kundera; Two Thousand Words / Ludvik Vaculik; Close the Gate, Little Brother / Karel Kryl XII. "REAL" SOCIALISM (1968 - 1989) Magic Prague / Angelo Maria Ripellino; In-House Weddings / Bohumil Hrabal; Head of the Virgin Mary / Jaroslav Seifert; What are Czechs? / Jan Patocka; Charter 77; Czech Dream Book / Ludvik Vaculik; Politics and Conscience / Vaclav Havel; Culture / Gene Deitch; Utz / Bruce Chatwin XIII. AFTER THE VELVET REVOLUTION (1989-- ? ) City Sister Silver / Jachym Topol; Prague 1989, Theater of Revolution / Michael Andrew Kukral; Czech-German Declaration; After the Revolution / Erazim Kohak; Europeana. A Brief History of the Twentieth Century / Patrik Ourednik; April 5, 2009 Speech in Prague / Barack Hussein Obama Epilogue; Notes; Acknowledgments; Suggested Reading

Prizes

An interdisciplinary anthology of writings by and about the Czech Republic, including many primary materials never before published in English

Reviews

"The Czech Reader is a real gem, an immensely informative, balanced, and up-to-date compendium on Czech history and culture."oJohn Neubauer, University of Amsterdam "There is nothing comparable to The Czech Reader. It makes a unique and highly valuable contribution to understanding the Czech interpretation of their own history, of who they are, and what historical events constituted them as a nation and a people."oSilvia Tomaskova, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill