An excellent overview of the great turning points in the history of communist-dominated Europe, not least of the revolutions of 1989.

Richard Crampton, Professor of East European History, Oxford University

[A] precise and complex analysis, and furthermore one based on wider sources. A highly recommended book, one that should act as a follow-up to existing reading.

Journal of Contemporary History

A significant contribution to our understanding of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe

Tim Haughton, Lecturer in the Politics of Central and Eastern Europe, Birmingham University

This imaginative collection reflects the most updated findings on the nature of Communist rule and the real content of some of the most striking crises in post-1945 Eastern Europe. The well-orchestrated team of authors has made the best use of the decade-and-a-half of open archives in the region. The results frequently startle and upset the various received interpretations, but always in a convincing and documented way.

Ivo Banac, Bradford Durfee Professor of History, Yale University