Drawing on her own memory, her parents’ written reflections, interviews with contemporaries, and newly-available documents, former US Secretary of State and New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Albright recounts a tale that is by turns harrowing and inspiring.
Before she turned twelve, Madeleine Albright’s life was shaken by some of the most cataclysmic events of the 20th century: the … events of the 20th century: the Nazi invasion of her native Prague, the Battle of Britain, the attempted genocide of European Jewry, the allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War.
In Prague Winter, Albright reflects on her discovery of her family’s Jewish heritage many decades after the war, on her Czech homeland’s tangled history, and on the stark moral choices faced by her parents and their generation. Often relying on eyewitness descriptions, she tells the story of how millions of ordinary citizens were ripped from familiar surroundings and forced into new roles as exile leaders and freedom fighters, resistance organizers and collaborators, victims and killers. These events of enormous complexity are shaped by concepts familiar to any growing child: fear, trust, adaptation, the search for identity, the pressure to conform, the quest for independence, and the difference between right and wrong.
Prague Winter is an exploration of the past with timeless dilemmas in mind, a journey with universal lessons that is simultaneously a deeply personal memoir and an incisive work of history. It serves as a guide to the future through the lessons of the past, as seen through the eyes of one of the international community’s most respected and fascinating figures. Albright and her family’s experiences provide an intensely human lens through which to view the most political and tumultuous years in modern history.
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it was well written and very informative.
Never knew any of her story. Great historical read. I loved every word.
Very well researched history of Prague and Madeline Albright’s family history.
Great history of Czech.
Great insights into Nazism and then Communism in Czechoslovakia.
It was good, but I have read a lot of WW II history so a lot of the book was a repeat of stuff I have read in the past. The parts that directly concerned her and her family were most interesting.
I had hoped for a more personal story. It was a retelling of WWII from a particular point of view.
not interesting
Well written. Well researched and unbelievably interesting. This is her background and to learn about her father’s work and their life in Czechoslovakia, England and Yugoslavia was amazing.
I really liked it! Articulate, well written! Loved hearing another view from history from the era!
Disappointing
Wonderful background information about the beginning and duration of WW II. Wish I had read it before I visited Prague. I have a whole new understanding of some of the events that shaped Europe at that time, and of the decisions that the citizens were forced to make to survive.
Excellent read. I learned so much.
My limited knowledge of Prague before & during WWII was incentive to read this book. Now admire M. Albright even more.
I enjoyed this book because she described the events of WWII from the prospective on Czechoslovakia and the people who lived there, especially her family. I was born in the US in 1942 and like to read abut life during that time to understand what my family and others were coping with. This was the first time that I was able to see it through a country that I knew little about, a country whose leadership took such an active role in beating the Nazis.
Well written. Interesting insight into an important person in our country.
Interesting, a bit scattered and not as well-written as I had hoped, still gives a different perspective.
Excellent in every way. I couldn’t put it down. So informative.
I expected powerful story about this fascinating period of history, but Madeleine Albright is a very tedious writer who failed to bring the story to life. I couldn’t finish it out of boredom.
I found this to be a very informative and moving memoir about an exceptionally interesting and politically involved woman. She shares a lot of very personal information about her family and childhood experiences.