Eastern Europe Since 1970

JZ116, 0-582-32858-6, Gokay, Bulent, Eastern Europe, 1970-1996:L Decline of Socialism to Post-Communist transition/ From the hardening grip of Soviet domination under Brezhnev to the collapse of communism and its aftermath, Bulent Gokay provides the essential introduction to Eastern Europe in the last quarter of the twentieth century. All books in the Seminar Studies in History series bridge the gap between textbook and specialist survey. They begin with a brief "Introduction" and/or "Background" to the subject, valuable in bringing the reader up-to-speed on the area being examined, and there follows a substantial and authoritative section of "Analysis" focusing on the main themes and issues. Finally there is a succinct "Assessment" of the subject, a generous selection of "Documents" and a detailed bibliography. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 spelled the end of reformist communism and the tightening of Soviet control throughout Eastern Europe. In spite of this, several countries within the Soviet Bloc managed to retain varying degrees of independence over the next two decades. Focusing on the struggle towards economic and social modernization in the region and the competing influences of East and West in a dangerous Cold War. Bulent Gokay shows how individual circumstances, as well as diverse national characteristics, made a uniform application of the Soviet model impossible, and charts the growing resistance to domination and the momentous events which finally toppled Soviet power in the region. For those interested in Eastern Europe.