Drawing on analyses of the socio-cultural context of East and Central Europe, focusing on the Czech cultural dynamics of the Cold War and its aftermath, this book examines the making and breaking of centrally-controlled book production and reception.

Jiřina Smejkalová, CSc/Ph.D. (1991) in Sociology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague, is Reader in Cultural Studies at the University of Lincoln, UK. She has published on cultural and gender issues in Central Europe, including Kniha [The book] (Host, 2000).