This historical survey of Central Europe covers a region that encompasses contemporary Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia. Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends contains a new epilogue - updated to cover events since 1995 - and several redesigned or updated maps.

Each chapter is thematically organized around issues or events that are important in helping students develop an understanding of the region's internal dynamics. Johnson illuminates the competing religious, cultural, economic, national, and ideological interests that have driven the history of Central Europe.

Thorough, objective, and focused, Johnson's work stands out as both a useful core text covering an area of growing interest and a brilliant account of a region that is only just beginning to receive the attention it deserves.

"Central Europe has finally re-entered the cultural world of Western Europe and the United States.... Lonnie Johnson has come along with a book which is extremely useful not only for courses on Central Europe but will be indispensable to readers whose knowledge of European ideas is generally limited to the Western half of the continent." -Istvan Deak, Columbia University

"Written by a sophisticated historical analyst, this book is nevertheless more accessible to non-specialists than any comparable work. Lonnie Johnson explains the region's paradoxes objectively, but also with deep sympathy.... Students, travelers, officials, and businessmen who wish to understand the contradicitons of this vital, appealing, but often alarming heart of Europe must read this illuminating narrative."-Daniel Chirot, University of Washington