Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends

This is one of the best, perhaps the best, survey or overview history of a region that I have read. (Central Europe -- at least as Lonnie Johnson defines and writes about it -- comprehends Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and, further to the east or south, the Baltic states and portions of Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.) 1600 years of history of a dozen or so "peoples" (whose territories are by no means congruent with the states of the region) are intelligently presented in 308 pages. Each of the twelve chapters is written in a stand-alone fashion, with useful sub-chapters, so one should be able to use the book as a reference and find readily enough discrete periods, countries, episodes, or events. Yet it also is sufficiently well-written that I could read it from front-to-back without ever bogging down. That is not to suggest that it is a quick or easy read. In fact, it took me about three weeks, reading perhaps 20 pages at a sitting. But for historical surveys of its kind, it is eminently well-written and readable. Especially engaging were the later chapters, dealing with the Cold war and its end and the dissolution of the Iron Curtain and the Eastern Bloc. Then I learned more from the five or six pages on the disintegration of Yugoslavia than I had from an entire book devoted to the Balkans but not nearly as well-written, organized, or presented. I read the book primarily as historical background for reading fiction from Central Europe, but no matter what one's interest in the region (including travel), I doubt seriously that there is, or soon will be, any comparable much less superior history.

This is easily the best history of Central Europe available for the general reader (or the student). Johnson always keeps the big picture in mind, while moving the reader though events and people that are unfamiliar to most Americans. Johnson has organized the material to do what you probably want it to do. Chapters on the last 150 years or so cover only a couple of decades each, while the earlier chapters cover centuries. He keeps his eyes on each of the modern countries in the region, while discussing the larger empires that have buffeted them this way and that. While it would make a good text for an undergraduate course, I think the book's real value is for the traveler. Read the first half of the book before you go to Central Europe, and then read about more recent events while you are there. You'll gain an added appreciation for the sights and for the historical context that produced them.

~Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, and Friends~ is an amazing background history on Central and Eastern Europe. Lonnie Johnson chronicles central European historical developments, whether cultural, political and socio-economic, after the fall of Rome and the rise of the Christian West. Central Europe ("Mitteleurope") is a vibrant region where the interplay of cultures (i.e. Slavic, Germanic, Magyar, Turkish, et al.) and faith (i.e. Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Islam) interact. Johnson gives a great cursory background to the nineteenth century nationalist movements throughout Central Europe and the so called Springtime Revolutions of 1848. Moreover, his elaboration on feudal developments helps gives clarity to understanding the sometimes enigmatic region. Anyway, Johnson explains why it is integral to understand the medieval meaning of natio (nation) in order to gain proper cognizance of history. The medieval kingdoms were "relatively loose confederations ruled by kings who claimed a limited amount of jurisdiction for specific subordinate political and territorial units, each of which, in turn, was ruled by nobles who exercised a high degree of autonomy in their domains." Thus, the nobles and not the people were the constituent members of the nation. Approaching Central European history, without the clouded lens of modern democratic theory, which eschews feudalism as primitive, has clouded proper understanding of the developments so integral to Central Europe and its history. While romantic nationalism has swept Central Europe, the metamorphosis of romantic nationalism with hundreds of years of tradition, requires understanding medieval developments to frame everything in the proper perspective. There are history lessons to be learned from this book. To me, the breakup of Austria-Hungary was an impetus for the violent ultra-nationalism, which has plagued the region in the twentieth century and those areas peripheral to central Europe like the Balkans. Austria-Hungary, a traditional monarchy, acted as a stabilizer and peacekeeper in the Balkans. Prussia's self-assertion in the 19th century, and their being the torchbearer of Pan-German nationalism, played no small part in the gradual downfall of traditional monarchies like that of the Austrian Hapsburgs though. The Great War sealed the fate of the Hapsburg Empire. This book also cast light on the Slavic and Germanic tension, which was forever part of the region. It also proves the absurdity of Nazi race theories of "racial purity," since the various peoples of Mitteleurope, the Germans in particular, are among the most mixed stocks in Europe... In the middle ages, the Teutonic Knights essentially Germanized many of the Slavs in their desire to push the creed of Western Christendom. The Teutons gave the conquered Slavs the German language and the Roman Catholic Faith. The unvanquished Slavs further to the east countered the Germanic push as well. Though, in Poland the Slavs never displac

Before coming and working in the Balkans, I taught European political-military affairs and history, and this has got to be one of the best books on the subject for an American audience. Lonnie Johnson is an American academic who has lived many years in Austria and has an Austrian wife, so his perspective is personal as well as academic. He writes in such a manner that he will be understood by the average American who hasn't done a masters in European international relations, yet goes into sufficient detail to for his book to qualify as a serious treatment of the subject. The conclusions and points that he draws apply to all of Europe, including the West. For us, to whom 1776 is a long time ago, to be able to understand why the Europeans are the way they are, this book goes a long way to explain it. We debate about whether the Confederate flag should fly over the South Carolina capital. Imagine centuries of such symbolic and real gestures that make such trivial issues matters of national importance. Centuries of antipathies and changing alliances are brought into clear perspective in this book. If you only have time to read one book on the history of Central Europe, its shifting borders and repressed emotions, make this it.Why didn't I give it 5 stars? I like to save those for the Winston Churchills and the Vaclav Havels who not only can write well, but were an important part of the story.

This book is being used as a supplemental reading in a seminar class in Eastern Europe. Johnson, as the third generation of Slavic historians, has written an easy to read, well documented, and scholarly work. His theses are easy to comprehend, and he makes the region, politics, and ethnic struggles of the region accessible to all readers.