The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present

This book, as the title suggests, tries to make the case for perceiving Poland, former Czechoslovakia and Hungary as a single cultural entity, as a region with certain common characteristics and historical experience. However, as the reader reads on, she/he cannot help the feeling that the book unintentionally proves the exact opposite. This is not to say that the author is a charlatan - for there can be no doubt about the his erudition. Rather, Wandycz seems to be under the influence of the current geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe when the four countries (P, H, CZ, S) actually do face similar problems and tasks - but such moments are rare in their histories and cannot be taken as a starting point of writing their joint history. Nonetheless, the book would serve as an excellent introduction into the general history of the countries in the region.