Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 1,374 ratings · 365 reviews

Before Madeleine Albright turned twelve, her life was shaken by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia—the country where she was born—the Battle of Britain, the near total destruction of European Jewry, the Allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War.

Albright's experiences, and those of her family, provide a lens through which to view...more Before Madeleine Albright turned twelve, her life was shaken by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia—the country where she was born—the Battle of Britain, the near total destruction of European Jewry, the Allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War.

Albright's experiences, and those of her family, provide a lens through which to view the most tumultuous dozen years in modern history. Drawing on her memory, her parents' written reflections, interviews with contemporaries, and newly available documents, Albright recounts a tale that is by turns harrowing and inspiring. Prague Winter is an exploration of the past with timeless dilemmas in mind and, simultaneously, a journey with universal lessons that is intensely personal.

The book takes readers from the Bohemian capital's thousand-year-old castle to the bomb shelters of London, from the desolate prison ghetto of Terezín to the highest councils of European and American government. 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 exiled leaders and freedom fighters, resistance organizers and collaborators, victims and killers. These events of enormous complexity are never-theless 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.

"No one who lived through the years of 1937 to 1948," Albright writes, "was a stranger to profound sadness. Millions of innocents did not survive, and their deaths must never be forgotten. Today we lack the power to reclaim lost lives, but we have a duty to learn all that we can about what happened and why." At once a deeply personal memoir and an incisive work of history, Prague Winter 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.(less)

Hardcover, 467 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Harper (first published January 1st 2012)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff

The Daily Show Reading Club

41st out of 270 books — 118 voters

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe

A Teeny Bit of Trouble by Michael Lee West

Most Anticipated New Releases for April 2012

5th out of 15 books — 24 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 01, 2012 Chrissie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, bio, czech-republic, history, favorites, 2012challenge

On completion:

Never was I bored when I listened to this book. Never was I confused by the facts. The balance between historical detail and personal family events was perfect. I enjoyed that the history of Czechoslovakia during the war was thoroughly covered as well as what happened to her family.

I adored learning about Madeleine as a child....she was no angel and what she tells us is often very funny. She got a D minus in geography! OK, that was when she was still very young, so we can forgive...more On completion:

Never was I bored when I listened to this book. Never was I confused by the facts. The balance between historical detail and personal family events was perfect. I enjoyed that the history of Czechoslovakia during the war was thoroughly covered as well as what happened to her family.

I adored learning about Madeleine as a child....she was no angel and what she tells us is often very funny. She got a D minus in geography! OK, that was when she was still very young, so we can forgive this. She throws in humor so often. She poses philosophical questions and analyzes historical events. She doesn't always have all the answers to every question, but then we consider, along with her, the possible alternatives.

I am truly impressed with the historical detail she has taught me and my delight with the learning process. This book shows how learning can be fun. Historical figures, such as Edward Benes(President) and Jan Mazaryk(Foreign Minister) and his father,Thomas Mazaryk(President), and Albright's family, particularly herself and her father, feel like people I know. I know more than just what they did. I have an idea of what makes them who they are.

For me this book was wonderful. It is interesting, instructive, funny and moving. A great book. It is not often that so much detail can be absorbed when you listen to a book. It is amazing. I must give it five stars.

ETA: couple more funny things...... When Madeleine was little she was told to give water to their chickens. She grabbed a milk bottle and filled it with water and gave that to them. Her mother asked hos she expected the chickens to drink from that. She replied that chickens have long necks. And do you know that the V1s used in the Blitz were called "bubble and squeak" or how Albright came to wear a large emerald ring with surrounding inset diamonds to Tito's funeral? The book will tell you.

Thoughts while reading/listening:

This is really, really good. It is much more history about WW2 than memoir. Albright does an excellent job of explaining history. All is very clear and interesting and amusing too since she throws in funny jokes. It is true that the main focuses are European and Czech and British and American. This is understandable.

Here is one example of a joke: Mussolini and Hitler were on the phone. Mussolini was not able to take over Greece and in general was unable to move forward. So he says to Hitler, "This telephone connection is bad. Where are you? In Britain?" You see Hitler hadn't managed to knock out London in the Blitz. So of course, Hitler was NOT in Britain..... I am not saying this as well as Albright does.

She reads her own book and probably because she knows how to speak she does a fine job. I really cannot say I have any complaints. To like this book you have to like non-fiction and history of course. And be interested in reading about World War II. I have listened to almost half. (less)

16 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2013 KOMET rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biographies-diaries-and-memoirs, zz-out-of-residence

Madeleine Albright has written a very fascinating and compelling book, shedding light on her native Czechoslovakia and its history, her parents and the challenges faced by their generation, her extended family, and her formative years (up to age 10).

Prior to 1918, Czechoslovakia existed only as a dream in the minds of a number of dedicated, hard-working, intelligent and astute Czechs and Slovaks. Of their number, there was one man who stood out head and shoulders above the rest: Tomas Masaryk (...more Madeleine Albright has written a very fascinating and compelling book, shedding light on her native Czechoslovakia and its history, her parents and the challenges faced by their generation, her extended family, and her formative years (up to age 10).

Prior to 1918, Czechoslovakia existed only as a dream in the minds of a number of dedicated, hard-working, intelligent and astute Czechs and Slovaks. Of their number, there was one man who stood out head and shoulders above the rest: Tomas Masaryk (1850-1937). According to Albright, "Masaryk saw a world in which the settled verities of religious conviction, political order, and economic status were under attack. Moderization was essential but also dangerous because it could leave people without a way to anchor themselves either intellectually or emotionally. The solution, in his eyes, was to embrace religion without the straitjacket of the Church, social revolution without the excesses of Bolshevism, and national pride without bigotry. He believed in democracy and the capacity of people to learn and to grow. His dream was to build a Czech society that could take its place alongside the Western countries he admired."

With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and through the efforts of Masaryk to interest the West during WWI in his cause for an independent Czech nation, Czechoslovakia came into being before the end of 1918. (Subsequently, the nation's borders were firmly defined at the Paris Peace Conference the following year.)

Albright shows how well, considering its growing pains and challenges, Czechoslovakia developed and prospered under Masaryk's beknighted leadership. He was one of those rare political leaders of great will, charisma, and intellect who truly lived up to the democratic ideals he espoused.

Upon Masaryk's death in 1937 (the year Albright was born), leadership of the country passed to his close associate Edvard Benes. Benes, while not of the stature of Tomas Masayrk, was a principled man with some measure of political acumen. He led his nation through the Munich Crisis of 1938 (which resulted in the West's abandonment of Czechoslovakia following the ceding of the Sudetenland region to Hitler's Germany), the dissolution of the rest of the Czech nation when Hitler marched his forces into Prague in March 1939, and Benes' own subsequent departure to Britain, where he led a Czechoslovak government-in-exile through the Second World War. At the same time these momentous events were played out on the European stage, Albright's family (her father was a diplomat in the Czech Foreign Ministry) was forced to flee to Britain, too.

In reading this book, I learned a lot about Czechoslovakia, which filled me with admiration for Tomas G. Masaryk, his son Jan (a truly remarkable and humane man), and Albright's parents (Josef and Marie Korbel). What made for sad, sobering reading was learning that most of Albright's remaining family and relatives in Czechoslovakia were killed in the Holocaust. (Albright, who was baptized Catholic as a very young child in Britain, had no idea of her Jewish heritage til decades later, through a Washington Post news story during her tenure as Secretary of State in the Clinton Administration.)

Anyone who enjoys history in the form of a good, compelling story should read this book. You'll be glad you did. (less)

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 11, 2012 Kenneth P. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: world-war-two

This fascinating book is at once a personal memoir, a history of Czechoslovakia and a narrative of events in Europe during the Second World War. The project of writing the book began when Dr. Albright, a life-long Christian at the age of 59, learned that she had been born a Jew and that many of her relatives (including three grandparents) had died in the Holocaust. She writes,

I was shocked and, to be honest, embarrassed to discover that I had not known my family history better...... Nor was I en...more This fascinating book is at once a personal memoir, a history of Czechoslovakia and a narrative of events in Europe during the Second World War. The project of writing the book began when Dr. Albright, a life-long Christian at the age of 59, learned that she had been born a Jew and that many of her relatives (including three grandparents) had died in the Holocaust. She writes,

I was shocked and, to be honest, embarrassed to discover that I had not known my family history better...... Nor was I entirely reassured by the many people who spoke or wrote to me of having had comparable experiences concerning secrets kept by their own parents.

In 1939, at the age of one, Madeleine and her family escaped their native Czechoslovakia for the safety of London where her father, Josef, would play a prominent role in the Czechoslovak government in exile. A Czech diplomat and scholar, Josef Korbel had been Ambassador to Yugoslavia, a post he would re-assume after the war.

The appeasement of Hitler, by the British and French at Munich, pressured Czech President Benes to fork over a sliver of his country-- the Sudetenland. Albright's detailed account of these negotiations is nothing less than great history. No stone is left unturned. She offers arguments from every possible persuasion as to what Czech President Benes could have done. Ultimately Benes went along with Munich. Josef Korbel disagreed with the decision at the time. Daughter Madeleine, in hindsight, concurs. What I found most interesting was that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich a hero, a great man who had preserved the peace. In a matter of months, after Hitler had gobbled up all of Czechoslovakia, the hero became the goat.

Albright's account is meticulously researched. There is the mountain published material; there are her interviews with relatives and surviving Czech officials. Her ace-in-the-hole, however, was her garage where countless boxes of documents waited to be scrutinized. Much of it consisted of her father's writing from the Czech exile 1940's. Some of it was her mother's personal correspondence. All of it gave Albright a unique angle, a cat bird's seat for the kind of book she had in mind.

The work of the Czechoslovaks in London during the war was crucial for the future survival of their country. It was an arduous task to gain full diplomatic recognition from the allies (which they did). Using BBC broadcasts they bolstered morale in their homeland while deftly aiding the Czech resistance. At this time, in 1941, the Korbel family converted to the Roman Catholic faith. Albright, four years old at the time, does not remember her baptism but she laments the the fact that her parents never discussed it with her in later years. She speculates that such a conversion, in 1941 Europe, made a lot of sense and there is no arguing that logic.

After the war the Korbels returned to Prague where Josef resumed his work in the foreign ministry. Before long he was re-appointed as Ambassador to Yugoslavia. There are some interesting chapters of Madeleine and the family in Belgrade, some insightful looks at Marshall Tito who was a complex piece of work.

What follows, sadly, is a detailed account of the nation of Czechoslovakia, recently liberated, falling once again into dictatorship. I was surprised to learn that Communism did not come to Czechoslovakia with Russian tanks. It began with the results of a free election that enabled Czech Communists to control both the cabinet and parliament. Very quickly they took control of the army and police. It was a coup waiting to happen. Again Dr. Albright provides a detailed account that is laden with documentation. Twice in a ten year period her native country lost its freedom. No one but she could have described it better.

As to being kept in the dark regarding her Jewish heritage, she is frank and forthcoming with her disappointment. Regarding the deaths of relatives in the Holocaust, and why she was shielded from that knowledge, she is mum. An aunt, uncle, first cousin and three grandparents perished in Nazi camps. She discovered this family secret after both of her own parents had passed away. It's possible that her feelings regarding such a monumental secret are too personal and painful to share.

With my kindle indicating that I was only 70% finished, I was disappointed to find the author wrapping it up. Indeed the remaining 30% consists of sources, notes, timelines etc. That's my only beef with the book: it ended too soon.

(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 05, 2013 Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937–1948 by Madeleine Albright is a non-fiction book in which the author talks about the years mentioned from her perspective. Somewhat personal, adventurous and moving, this memoir takes the reader on a European history lesson which is not often told.

"There is not deeper cause for despair than malicious hope (Hitler proved that), and few traits more valuable than sadness and anger at suffering. The distinction that m...more Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937–1948 by Madeleine Albright is a non-fiction book in which the author talks about the years mentioned from her perspective. Somewhat personal, adventurous and moving, this memoir takes the reader on a European history lesson which is not often told.

"There is not deeper cause for despair than malicious hope (Hitler proved that), and few traits more valuable than sadness and anger at suffering. The distinction that matters is not whether a story concludes happily but whether there is at its core an affirmation that life has meaning. That is why this book of remembrance and war will end in hope."

My grandfather was born in Bratislava, a city in Czechoslovakia. He wasn’t very talkative, my grandfather, and would answer questions very sparingly and it is a shame that I did not ask that many. He passed away many years ago and I would have loved to tour his birth city with him. That is if he was willing to do so, he managed to escape the Nazi occupation as a teenager but never saw his parents or sister again who were murdered in the concentration camps (his brother became a partisan and they reunited after the war).

That is one of the many reasons I wanted to read this book, I wanted to learn more about history which I didn’t even know I was curious about. However, the more I read the book the more I realized that I have heard the names of Czech leaders and statesman even though I did not know exactly what their contributions were.

Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright was a book which surprised me from start to finish. At first I thought I was picking up a memoir by the famed Secretary of State about her childhood, but what I got was a first-class lesson in history before, during and after World War II from perspective seen thorough Czechoslovakian eyes.

As a daughter of Josef Körbel, a Czechoslovakian diplomat, Mrs. Albright has a unique lifetime perspective of the country’s situation and blends her personal insights into the political dynamics which shaped European and American policies during those turbulent years. The author’s fascinating narrative and perspective drew me into the book from the first several pages and engrossed me until the last page.

This book should be on the reading list of every State Department employee. The lessons which Ms. Albright brings to the forefront can save us from the same traps that gave rise to the Nazis and also the communists at the end of the war. The book also highlights individual achievements, where simple people rise to the occasion in small, meaningful ways which don’t make it to the history books (Jews creating a community in a ghetto, Londoners’ banding together during the bombing, as well as individual diplomatic achievements for democracy) but are inspiring and meaningful.

The book includes pictures from the Körbel family collection of people and events, the writing is amazing and even the footnotes are superb. Ms. Albright’s grasp of political measures, historical events and articulate narrative makes this book a gripping read.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com (less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 14, 2013 Lindsay Luke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: listened

I enjoyed listening to this. I saw Madeleine Albright discuss it on the Daily Show. She was an enertaining speaker and her stories made me want to read the book. She also narrates it, and does a good job, although the production might have been a bit better. I didn't realize that this is actually her third memoir.
She relates the story of Czechoslovakia, in the WWII era and immediately after, through her experiences as a child during the war when her father was a diplomat in the Czech government...more

like · see review

Oct 23, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had no idea her family was Jewish in origin until a reporter from the Washington Post did an article about her and found the records. This book is the story of her family's life from her birth in Prague, through the War when they were in exile in London, after the War when they returned to Prague, only to finally seek asylum in the U.S. Having read books about WWII, it is always interesting to see the War from yet another perspective--in this case the Czech...more

like · see review

Oct 15, 2012 David Levine rated it 2 of 5 stars

As someone who lived in Prague and studied eastern european history, this was just OK. Albright's own personal history (or tragedy in these years) is gripping. However, her historical background discussion, including her depiction of the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1939) is either facile or naive if not wrong. It is a very Czech-centric view typical of what has published by Czechs and recycles the "noble Czech democrats" myth which they themselves created. The story of the fall of the firs...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Vivian Valvano rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating, memorable, and poignant book. I loved beautiful, exquisite Prague when I was there a few years ago; I am always interested in learning more about WW II; I am very interested in learning more about Prague; and I admire Madeleine Albright. She was born in 1937 in Prague; this focuses on her early years and thus, the lead up to the war, the duration of the war, and the immediate aftermath. Not until she was vetted for Secretary of State did the truth about her family become known to...more A fascinating, memorable, and poignant book. I loved beautiful, exquisite Prague when I was there a few years ago; I am always interested in learning more about WW II; I am very interested in learning more about Prague; and I admire Madeleine Albright. She was born in 1937 in Prague; this focuses on her early years and thus, the lead up to the war, the duration of the war, and the immediate aftermath. Not until she was vetted for Secretary of State did the truth about her family become known to her: her family was Jewish (not particularly religious Jews, but Jews nonetheless); she was Jewish; her parents had converted to Catholicism in England, where her father worked in the service of the Czech government in exile during the war. Her father was a brilliant man, a fervent believer in the tenets of democracy, and it's not hard to understand where Albright got her interest in public service, democratic ideals, and the study of governments. But I can hardly imagine what it must have been like for her to learn about her family's past and ultimately research the history of her original beloved country and of her extended family so carefully. Hitler and his minions killed many in Albright's family. She and her parents and siblings eventually gained asylum in the USA, the beloved country to which she has made enormous contributions. I learned much, and I am more convinced than ever that she is a woman of great character, intellectual ability, loyalty, and diplomatic prowess. I was particularly struck by this poem that she records at the beginning of this excellent book, a poem written by Petr Ginz in Terezin, where he was killed by Hitler in 1944 in the Holocaust. It's titled "Memories of Prague," and it brought tears to my eyes. "How long since I last saw/The sun sink low behind Petrin HIll?/With tearful eyes I gazed at you, Prague,/Enveloped in your evening shadows./How long since I last heard the pleasant rush of water/Over the weir in the Vltava river?/I have long since forgotten the bustling life of Wenceslas Square./Those unknown corners in the Old Town,/Those shady nooks and sleepy canals,/How are they? They cannot be grieving for me/As I do for them.../Prague, you fairy tale in stone, how well I remember!" RIP, Petr and all who met the same fate at the hands of the epitome of evil, Hitler. (less)

like · see review

Sep 29, 2012 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: czech-republic, slovak-republic, wwii

Finally, a readable explanation of how an eastern European county came to be behind the "Iron Curtain". Hopefully the future will hold such volumes for the others.

Albright tells how Czechoslovakia was created after WWI. Not too long afterward, its fledgling democracy died as its German minority helped Germany take it away. Later, its second fledgling democracy helped Russia take it away. It's a sad story with historically significant names (Eduard Benes, Thomas Masaryk, Jan Masaryk, Klement Gott...more Finally, a readable explanation of how an eastern European county came to be behind the "Iron Curtain". Hopefully the future will hold such volumes for the others.

Albright tells how Czechoslovakia was created after WWI. Not too long afterward, its fledgling democracy died as its German minority helped Germany take it away. Later, its second fledgling democracy helped Russia take it away. It's a sad story with historically significant names (Eduard Benes, Thomas Masaryk, Jan Masaryk, Klement Gottwalt, Reihard Heydrich) and places (Sudentenland, Lidice) that were totally new to me new to me.

There were also familiar names and places that have new meaning for me for instance: the background on the Munich Conference, a full story of what went on in Terezin, the timing of the Russian army's arrival in Prague, and how Yalta did not seal the fate of Czechoslovakia. There are huge events, such as parachute assassins of Reinhard Heydrich (Germany's overseer during the war) post-war expulsion of Germans (over 1 million people), and the destruction of Lidice that I never knew about.

Through it, Albright weaves the story of her family. Her father's career in journalism and foreign service gave the young Madlenka Korbel a front row seat, which as a toddler and child, she was too young to understand. As she reconstructs the past she relates where her father was, what he did, what she believes he thought and provides some documents he signed. Her personal anecdotes humanize the story.

Black and white photos appear throughout the text. At the conclusion there is a helpful timeline, a list of key players and titles and a Korbel family chronology. The index, which I used from time to time, always got me what I needed.

This is an excellent book. I hope to see it on the Best of 2012 and awards lists. I also hope to see a sequel, with an up close interpretation of Prague Spring, the Velvet Revolution and the separation of the the Czech and Slovak republics.
Comment Comment | Permalink (less)

like · see review

Aug 18, 2012 Vic rated it 3 of 5 stars

While I did not love this book, it came to me in pretty special circumstances. We were going to Prague and I was invited to a charity luncheon that same day where Albright was speaking. I learned shortly before going that we would get a free signed copy of this book centering on Prague. So, I got it and took it with me to Prague. That was nice.

A major part of our vacation was learning about the history of Prague. This book fits beautifully and really is a history of Czechoslovakia between 1937-...more

like · see review

Aug 16, 2012 Carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. While the chapters of Czechoslovakian history were a little tough to sludge through the rest of the book was well worth the wait. Albright was only a small child during the time that this book is set in, but despite that she has very distinct memories of bomb shelters and observances of the conversations between adults at the time. A lot of the book comes from research, papers, letters, journals, family history, and interviews. There is some great information about specific e...more

like · see review

Jul 25, 2012 Alan Kaplan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Madeleine Albright's Prague Winter is a gripping account of her life, growing up in wartime Prague and London. Madeleine's father was a mid level diplomat with the Czech government. Her father rose to become the ambassador to Yugoslavia after the war. Her family escaped to London just as the Nazis were arriving in Czechoslovakia. What is most interesting about this story is that her family was Jewish, and Ms. Albright maintains that she did not know this fact until she was being vetted for Secre...more

like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 Judie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Had I known in advance exactly what this book was about, I would have left it on the library shelf and had denied myself an excellent read.
Madeleine Albright tells the story of Czechoslovakia before, during, and after World War II in a compelling, easy to follow narrative. The experiences of her family provide a thread since her father was an ambassador so she personally met many of the politicos involved, even though she was a young child. She relies on her father's papers and personal intervie...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 Margaret rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoire, audio-books

I so admire Ms. Albright, and I appreciate that with all she's accomplished she has elected to write "books for the rest of us" that are accessible and intelligent at the same time - no compromises either way. This is her third book and it focuses on the history of Czechoslovakia (the country of her birth and ancestry), primarily the events leading up to and during WWII, as intertwined with stories and memories of her family's history in the first half of the 20th C. Simply put, it's all fascina...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 01, 2012 Carl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although this was an excellent history of Czechoslovakia from the 1930s to 1948, it wasn’t as “personal” as I was expecting. Of course, given the author’s age, what she saw and felt would be limited and of less significance than the first hand impressions of someone a bit older. And, although her family was deeply involved in various ways (her father part of the government pre-, during (in exile), and post-war, and grandparents, cousins, etc. presumably killed by the Nazis), those reports are on...more Although this was an excellent history of Czechoslovakia from the 1930s to 1948, it wasn’t as “personal” as I was expecting. Of course, given the author’s age, what she saw and felt would be limited and of less significance than the first hand impressions of someone a bit older. And, although her family was deeply involved in various ways (her father part of the government pre-, during (in exile), and post-war, and grandparents, cousins, etc. presumably killed by the Nazis), those reports are only a little more “personal” than other outsiders’ descriptions of them (although the emphasis on the camp at Terezin would be different than the many histories that emphasize the more infamous death camps.)

The personal aspects I found most intriguing were her questions about the “right” course of action to take when one is between a rock and hard place. For example, were the vicious repercussions of Heydrich’s assassination worth the PR and morale building it might have brought about? What about individual choices to collaborate in little ways vs. having one’s family starve or be put to death?

Although brief, the introduction to the history of Bohemia from the Middle Ages to WW I was informative for me. There’s a lot of detail (Czech-centric) about Hitler’s actions (and the rest of the world’s inaction) in the late 30’s, but that doesn’t cover much new ground.

The events in Czechoslovakia toward the end of WW II and up to the “coup” of 1948 were informative, but for me would have been more meaningful if there were more comparisons among the various Eastern Bloc countries as to how and why they ended up as they did. For example, even though her father was ambassador to Belgrade, there was no mention of how Tito and Yugoslavia became immediately allied with Stalin in ‘45, yet could establish much more independence from the USSR in the same year the Czechs were swallowed up. (Yes, what happened to Poland was obvious, as it has/had the misfortune of sitting directly between Germany and the USSR).

So, depending on what you’re looking for, you could skip big hunks of this book and not be disappointed, but overall a good review of an important piece of history.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

May 19, 2012 Caren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-nonfiction

I picked up this book because I love the Czechs, those intelligent, gracious people. This is a well-told story of one Czech who later became a very influential American. If it is a curse to have been born in interesting times, Dr. Albright was certainly well and truly cursed. But, as in the best fairy tales, the curse was balanced by having been blessed with wonderfully prescient parents who stayed one step ahead of events and kept their little daughter safe. The nation of their birth, Czechoslo...more I picked up this book because I love the Czechs, those intelligent, gracious people. This is a well-told story of one Czech who later became a very influential American. If it is a curse to have been born in interesting times, Dr. Albright was certainly well and truly cursed. But, as in the best fairy tales, the curse was balanced by having been blessed with wonderfully prescient parents who stayed one step ahead of events and kept their little daughter safe. The nation of their birth, Czechoslovakia, did not fare as well during the twentieth century. The author has woven a nuanced tale of her own childhood place within the story of the fate of her homeland from 1937 to 1948. Her father's career as a diplomat gave the family some agility which others in those years probably lacked. Thus, the family spent the years of World War II with the exiled Czech government in London. After the war, with her father assigned to to the Czech embassy in Yugoslavia, they were once again able to keep a step ahead of the communist takeover in Czechoslovakia and seek asylum in the USA. By such roundabout paths is a future secretary of state made! This book is rich with detail and, because of the personal aspects of the story, a feel of "you were there" history. I found the book to be extremely well-written. I see by the title page that is was written "with Bill Woodward"; the collaboration of the two is quite successful. I think most people are familiar with the outline of the history of World War II, but there are many accounts of the heroism of ordinary people here, and I imagine most readers will come away learning of some incidents from those years about which they had not previously heard. There are stories of the famous and of the unsung, and I was struck yet again at the absolute horror of those years. Dr. Albright says it so much better than I ever could in some of the concluding remarks to her book:
"Given the events described in this book, we cannot help but acknowledge the capacity within us for unspeakable cruelty or--to give the virtuous their due--at least some degree of moral cowardice. There is a piece of the traitor within most of us, a slice of the collaborator, an aptitude for appeasement, a touch of the unfeeling prison guard. Who among us has not dehumanized others, if not by word or action, then at least in thought? From the maternity ward to the deathbed, all that goes on within our breasts is not sweetness and light." (p. 413-414)
She then goes on to quote Vaclav Havel's perception of this human quandary:
"...Amid the repression of those [Cold War] years, he discerned two varieties of hope. The first he compared to the longing for 'some kind of salvation from the outside.'...'On the other end of the spectrum', said Havel, there are those who insist on 'speaking the truth simply because it [is] the right thing to do....' " (p. 414)
She then closes her book with these powerful lines:
"I have spent a lifetime looking for remedies to all manner of life's problems--personal, social, political, global. I am deeply suspicious of those who offer simple solutions and statements of absolute certainty or who claim full possession of the truth. Yet I have grown equally skeptical of those who suggest that all is too nuanced and complex for us to learn any lessons, that there are so many sides to everything that we can pursue knowledge every day of our lives and still know nothing for sure. I believe we can recognize truth when we see it, just not at first and not without ever relenting in our efforts to learn more. This is because the goal we seek, and the good we hope for, comes not as some final reward but as the hidden companion to our quest. It is not what we find, but the reason we cannot stop looking and striving, that tells us why we are here." ( 415-416)

This is so well said, and is the reason I love reading. How else could I ever learn the thoughts of this wise, experienced woman? Through books such as this, our journey is enhanced, our life experience enlarged, as we all seek after our purpose on this earth.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 15, 2012 Jaylia3 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Written by former US secretary of state and UN ambassador Madeleine Albright, Prague Winter is a seamlessly woven amalgam: part family memoir, part political and cultural history, and part discerning examination of how people make difficult, sometimes world-altering, moral choices. It covers the turbulent first half of twentieth century Europe and is focused most closely on Czechoslovakia, a distinctive and fascinating country this book made me want to visit. As a naturalized American citizen an...more Written by former US secretary of state and UN ambassador Madeleine Albright, Prague Winter is a seamlessly woven amalgam: part family memoir, part political and cultural history, and part discerning examination of how people make difficult, sometimes world-altering, moral choices. It covers the turbulent first half of twentieth century Europe and is focused most closely on Czechoslovakia, a distinctive and fascinating country this book made me want to visit. As a naturalized American citizen and government official who was born into a diplomatic Czechoslovakian family just before the onset of WWII, Albright has unique perspectives and insights. The catalyst for this book is that, raised a Catholic, Albright didn’t know about her family’s Jewish heritage until 1997 when a Washington Post investigation uncovered the information. Albright’s parents were dead by then so she couldn’t ask them about their reasons; instead she began to research on her own. What she found and conveys in her writing is a much more complicated history of her native land than the one she had been brought up to believe in.

Eastern Europe lost and gained its freedom twice in Albright’s lifetime. Albright examines both the psychological and historical reasons that Hitler and Stalin were able to fool the world about their intentions, and the grim philosophical and ethical dilemmas world leaders and ordinary citizens, including her parents, faced in consequence. For instance, are grand acts of resistance, like the assassination of Czechoslovakia’s top German Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich, worth the harsh reprisals they cause? Heydrich’s slaying, an episode Albright recounts in thrilling detail, increased national pride, raised badly depleted moral, helped reinvigorate the opposition and established Czechoslovakia as a key player in the war, a necessary step toward it regaining its independence when the fighting was over. But many innocent people were tortured and killed in consequence. An entire town, mistakenly thought to be complicit, was burned and razed to the ground. The men were shot, the children deemed young and blond enough were taken away to be adopted by German families, the remaining children were murdered in gas chambers and the women were sent to concentration camps. There are no easy answers to the questions Albright considers, and while she usually comes down on one side or another she doesn’t oversimplify the issues involved. It’s a mesmerizing and moving book.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 19, 2012 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Thank you, Mrs.Albright, for writing Prague Winter. Your experiences overlapped with those of my mother and her family. I came to this book with a fair understanding of the years leading up to the Second World War and stretching to events in 1948. Albright fills in the gaps with details about political manoeuvring that make clearer to me why the English sold out Czechoslovakia before the war and how the Communists came to power in 1948. It is a sad tale, at the political level because a country...more

like · see review

Aug 22, 2012 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

A well-written and meticulous account of Madeleine Albright's early years in Prague, London and Belgrade.
Albright was born in 1937 in Czechoslovakia so her own memories of WW II aren't fully formed but she does a good job of weaving her family's personal history with the political events of the time. Albright was raised Catholic and she learned many, many years later that her family was Jewish. Many of her relatives were killed in concentration camps during the Holocaust. Albright's father, Jose...more

like · see review

Jan 30, 2013 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

In remembrance of the Czech Jews on Holocaust Day who are often forgotten and unknown, Albright's story of her birthplace and ancestors is unforgettable..Im totally engrossed in the history of the time period and the details of the criss from both historical and personal perspective is priceless...Highly recommended for WW2 history buffs and those with Czech ancestry....Just finished it last night....An incredible read made all the more personal because my great grandfather was Czech and emigrat...more

like · see review

Aug 21, 2012 Sara Brosnan rated it 4 of 5 stars

humor writing style "At the Czech Foreign Ministry, I was given documents related to my father's career, among them a police report on my paternal grandfather, who was apparently not the most careful of drivers---in 1937, he was ordered to pay compensation for running over a hen." (pg. 8)

The Grandmother: A Story of Country Life in Bohemia, 1852

Tomas and Jan Masaryk

fried carp recipe (trad. Czech Christmas Eve dish) "Recipe from an 1825 Czech cookbook: Scale and split the carp, cut into pieces, ri...more

like · see review

Apr 25, 2013 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was certainly one of the most compelling reads I have had in a long time. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright uses snippets of her own family story as a backdrop for recount the larger history Czechoslovakia in modern times which, in turn, encapsulates the even larger history of the tensions between democracy, fascism, and Communism in the 20th Century played out around the globe. She was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, lived out WWII as a toddler in London where her father was par...more

like · see review

Sep 05, 2012 Gaile rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-biography, wwii, recommended-2012

In an eloquent voice, the politically abstute Madeleine Albright tells us the story of her birth and growing up in a family directly connected with the politics of Europe at a time when Hitler was on the rampage. Born in Czechoslovakia, she fills us in on the background history of that country. Then describes how the government fled to London. Her father, an ambassador spent the war hoping Czechoslovakia would go over to the west when the war. Unfortunately this did not happen. The Iron Curtain...more

like · see review

May 21, 2013 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I came upon Prague Winter at the local library and became interested based upon the exhibit of Secretary Albright’s pins at the Denver Art Museum. Albright is also a hero of a dear friend. So there you go.

Basically the book covers the history of the Czech republic and focuses on Albright's memoirs of the time just prior to and post WWII. Albright insights are unique due to her father's role as a diplomat working with many of the key Czech players of the time. She retains the child's memory of li...more I came upon Prague Winter at the local library and became interested based upon the exhibit of Secretary Albright’s pins at the Denver Art Museum. Albright is also a hero of a dear friend. So there you go.

Basically the book covers the history of the Czech republic and focuses on Albright's memoirs of the time just prior to and post WWII. Albright insights are unique due to her father's role as a diplomat working with many of the key Czech players of the time. She retains the child's memory of life during the war; the memories of friends and family, and the stories of Jewish relatives tragically murdered in the Holocaust.

I found the ancient history at the beginning of the book a little dry, but much that followed that was interesting, scary, moving, and inspiring and thought provoking. Let me outline a few examples

* The story of the first Czech president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was fascinating. I would like to learn more about the history of this honorable man and role model to the Czech people.

* Most people who are familiar with WWII will know about the Munich Agreement. Albright provides the story in great detail, especially from the Czech side. It is easy to read this and see political parallels in today. How far ought a nation compromise with an aggressor? When does it become counterproductive?

* The story of how post-war Czechoslovakia became fully communist from its liberal democratic roots prior to the war also has many parallels in the world today. The communists were better organized and much more skillful in power politics. They used fear and class warfare to mobilize the masses. And they had police in their pockets to ensure that when they did win one area, it would not be lost. Pressure and intimidation for not following the Party were asserted swiftly, directly, and physically -- and not much differently than the fascists. Yes, my friends on the right, and on the left, and looking around the world today will all pointing and singing, like Shirley Bassey, “to me it seems quite clear that it's all just a little bit of history repeating”

* Albright discusses Nazi mass murders at length through the lens of lost Jewish relatives. In particular, she focuses on the Terizen camp in Czechoslovakia. These are horrifying events, but how the Terizen inmates responded to their unspeakable conditions was life affirming.

I think my favorite part of the book were the stories about the family personal relationship to Tito. The ring story is wonderful.

Overall, I give this book very high marks. And for this who read it, I would recommend one of my favorites
“Eastern Approaches” by Fitzroy McLean.
(less)

like · see review

Sep 23, 2012 Iris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, worthwhile, historical-insight, biography-memoirs

Prague Winter tells of World War II and the beginnings of the Cold War from the viewpoint of pro-democracy Czechoslovakia. Madeleine Albright wrote the book in an effort to understand her own history by placing her parents in the context of their times. She creates a history of World War II that shows the important role small counties play in the world's history. Although she tells of Nazi atrocities and Stalin's power, she never demonizes those she writes of, rather she tries to understand them...more

like · see review

Dec 26, 2012 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

I really knew very little about the involvement of Czechoslovakia in the run-up to WWII and during WWII, so I found this book fascinating. Albright does a good job of linking up her early life (her father was a member of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile and, after the war, the Czechoslovak ambassador to Yugoslavia) with the historical events. It's also powerful (and incredibly sad) to see her retrace the unhappy ends of many of her relatives...Albright did not know she was of Jewish origin u...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 29, 2012 AnnieM rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: re-read

I'm biased. I know it. I'm fairly certian if given the chance and if she wanted to, Ms. Albright could walk on water. However because she is such a good person, she doesn't want to make others feel bad.

The information and the rate in which she dispenses it warrants at least a second readinging. I look forward to purchasing the hard copy so I can make notes.

I didn't have a great knowledge of Czech culture to begin with so really that alone could fill my mind. But with her family's background an...more

like · see review

May 12, 2013 Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Very much a history of Czechoslovakia from the end of WWI through after WWII, focusing on the Czechs and Madeline Albright's family, who were involved with the government. For those interested in this period and place, this is likely a great read. I wasn't that enamored - I found myself awash in too many names to keep track of and getting confused along the way. I was expecting the "personal" in the title to make this a bit more memoir-ish, but then I find that Albright was herself a youngster t...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 02, 2012 Stewart rated it 4 of 5 stars

The remarkable thing about "Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948" by Madeleine Albright (with Bill Woodwood) is that the author is so little physically present in it. Albright was born in 1937 and was 10 years old when the book concludes with the suspicious death of Jan Masaryk and the imposition of communism on Czechoslovakia in 1948. While the book has remembrances of her family during her young years, it is more a memoir of her beloved country and the crushing of...more The remarkable thing about "Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948" by Madeleine Albright (with Bill Woodwood) is that the author is so little physically present in it. Albright was born in 1937 and was 10 years old when the book concludes with the suspicious death of Jan Masaryk and the imposition of communism on Czechoslovakia in 1948. While the book has remembrances of her family during her young years, it is more a memoir of her beloved country and the crushing of its democracy first by the Nazis 1938-45 and by communism 1948-1989.
Albright was born May 15, 1937, in Prague, the daughter of Josef Korbel and Anna Spiegelova. Her father was a Czech diplomat, and both parents were fluent in several languages. It should be noted that Albright is fluent in English, French, Russian, and Czech and speaks and reads Polish and Serbo-Croatian.
Ten days after the Nazi invasion of March 15, 1938, the three-person Korbel family boarded the Orient Express out of Prague and traveled through Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia to Greece. They took a ship to England where the family spent the six years of World War II.
We get descriptions of wartime Britain and the Czech government in exile, led by Eduard Benes, as well as events in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. We read about the assassination in 1942 of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi ruler of Moravia and Bohemia, by Czech parachutists flown from England and the Nazi’s ruthless retaliation at Lidice; and we read about the removal of Jews from Prague and other Czech cities to the overcrowded prison at Terezin and the transport of many of those inmates to Auschwitz and other death camps. (It was more than 50 years later that Albright discovered that her background was Jewish.)
After the death of Adolf Hitler and Germany’s surrender, the Korbel family flew back to Prague in July 1945. After the takeover of the country by the communists in 1948, the Korbel family again had to leave, gaining political asylum in the United States.
A graduate of Wellesley College, Albright worked as a newspaper journalist and later as a professor at several U.S. universities. In 1993 during the Clinton administration, she became the ambassador to the United Nations and in 1997 was named the U.S.’s first woman Secretary of State.
The book is a well-written account of the events leading up to World War II, the war itself, and the first three years of the postwar era from the point of view of a small democratic country surrounded by two powerful countries, Germany and the Soviet Union.
Albright traveled the globe during her many years of diplomatic service. She has seen firsthand decades of disputes, diplomatic crises, and wars, particularly in the Balkans. From these experiences, she offers a few words about the attitudes that can lead to turmoil in the world or make them worse.
“I have spent a lifetime looking for remedies to all manner of life’s problems – personal, social, political, global,” Albright writes at the end of the book. “I am deeply suspicious of those who offer simple solutions and statements of absolute certainty or who claim full possession of the truth. Yet I have grown equally skeptical of those who suggest that all is too nuanced and complex for us to learn any lessons, that there are so many sides to everything that we can pursue knowledge every day of our lives and still know nothing for sure.”
(less)

like · see review

Jan 28, 2013 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Prague Winter narrates a harrowing decade in Czech national history through the lens of Madeleine Albright's own family story. Her personal quest to track down the fate of Jewish family members lost during WWII is the emotional heart of the book. (Albright discovered only as an adult that she had Jewish roots—her parents had converted to Christianity as Czech expatriates in London when she was an infant.) Albright's intensely personal history is successfully (and quite seemlessly) embedded in a...more Prague Winter narrates a harrowing decade in Czech national history through the lens of Madeleine Albright's own family story. Her personal quest to track down the fate of Jewish family members lost during WWII is the emotional heart of the book. (Albright discovered only as an adult that she had Jewish roots—her parents had converted to Christianity as Czech expatriates in London when she was an infant.) Albright's intensely personal history is successfully (and quite seemlessly) embedded in a compelling, and often tragic, political narrative in which a nascent Czech democratic experiment is abandoned by its Western allies at Munich and then crushed by the Nazi occupation. She soberly narrates the horrors of the war period and highlights heroic, though usually futile, attempts at resistance. As if the tragedy of World War II was not sufficient, an abortive attempt at postwar Czech democracy is quickly snuffed out by Stalin-supported communist partisans. Winter had returned, not to be vanquished—barring a brief spring in 1968—until 1989's Velvet Revolution.

Some of the most poignant details are found in Albright's discussion of the Jewish ghetto of Terezin, where several of her close relatives died. The stubborn commitment of the ghetto's residents to continue educating their children when all evidence suggested they would have no future, or to hold philosophical or cultural discussions amidst rampant disease and starvation, is powerful testimony to the resilience of the human spirit.

Prague Winter offers a lucid narrative of political history and supplies it with human warmth. Albright has a penchant for clear analysis and for the memorable detail. She weighs ambiguous moral questions (such as the widespread score-settling that occurred in 1945 after the Allied victory) without being satisfied with easy answers or post hoc moralizing. This book should appeal to those interested in twentieth-century history, especially those who like it told on an intimate rather than an impersonal scale.(less)

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (13)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

94 users

History

81 users

Biography

51 users

Autobiography > Memoir

48 users

History > World War II

18 users

Biography Memoir

12 users

World War II > Holocaust

11 users

Book Club

9 users

Biography > Autobiography

8 users

War

7 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová) was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996 and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate 99-0. She was sworn in on January 23, 1997.

More about Madeleine Albright...

Books by Madeleine Albright

Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box

The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs

Memo to the President Elect LP: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership

Protecting Democracy: International Responses

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Prague Winter: A ...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Prague Winter: A Perso...

“I have spent a lifetime looking for remedies to all manner of life's problems -- personal, social, political, global. I am deeply suspicious of those who offer simple solutions and statements of absolute certainty or who claim full possession of the truth. Yet I have grown equally skeptical of those who suggest that all is too nuanced and complex for us to learn any lessons, that there are so many sides to every thing that we can pursue knowledge every day of our lives and still know nothing for sure. I believe we can recognize truth when we see it, just not a first and not without ever relenting in our efforts to learn more. This is because the goal we seek, and the good we hope for, comes not as some final reward but as the hidden companion to our quest. It is not what we find, but the reason we cannot stop looking and striving, that tells us why we are here.” — 7 people liked it

“There is a lesson in [Terezín] for those who conduct inspections in our day, whether in prisons, sweatshops, refugee camps, polling places, or nuclear facilities: do not trust––push; control your own schedule; do your homework. Remember the adage that a little knowledge can be dangerous. The truth is more likely to be served by a canceled or aborted inspection than by a whitewash.” — 3 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
avg rating	preview: Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 Goodreads rating: 4.00 (1374 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13096280-prague-winter?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331740855l/13096280.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13096280-prague-winter?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 by Madeleine Albright[/url]

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website