Publication
Harper Perennial (2013), Edition: Reprint, 480 pages
Original publication date
2012
Collections
Awards
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Biography — 2012)
Description
From former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright comes a moving and thoughtful memoir of her formative years in Czechoslovakia during the tumult of Nazi occupation, World War II, fascism, and the onset of the Cold War.
User reviews
LibraryThing member MaineColonial
Because my paternal grandparents were Slovak immigrants, I was always aware of and interested in Czech and Slovak history. I remember how stunned I was the first time I read about how the British and French sold out Czechoslovakia to Germany in order to appease Hitler and, especially, how galling
Chamberlain gave us the viewpoint of a citizen of an imperial power. Madeleine Albright shows us what it was like from the other side, for those "people of whom we know nothing," when their aggressive neighbors decided to take over and their supposed allies' support evaporated.
Marie Jana Korbel was born in Prague in 1937 and was just a baby when Hitler annexed the Sudetenland in the northern part of the Czech lands and, shortly thereafter, invaded and made the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia into a Reich Protectorate. Her father, Josef Korbel, was in the diplomatic service and was able to take his family to London, where the Czech government-in-exile had fled, and where he produced wartime radio programs to be broadcast to those back home under the Nazi yoke.
After the war's end, the Korbel family was able to return, and Josef Korbel to resume his diplomatic service, but the Communist coup in 1948 forced them out of their home once again. They were given asylum in the US, where Marie Jana Korbel became Madeleine Albright, the first woman Secretary of State.
You may remember that very shortly after President Clinton named Albright Secretary of State, she learned that her parents were Jewish (though they'd converted to Roman Catholicism before her birth and raised her as a Catholic) and that a score of her close relatives, including three of her grandparents, were killed in Auschwitz and the Czech camp at Terezin (called Theresienstadt by the Germans).
In this book, Albright melds her family history with that of the Czechs (and, much less so, the Slovaks). Jews were among the most assimilated and secularized in Europe, and many considered themselves Czech before Jews, especially when Czechoslovakia became an independent nation after World War I. The country was an industrial powerhouse with a very high literacy rate and a strong cultural life. Of course, its strengths made it a target for Germany and the USSR.
Josef Korbel's position in the Czech government and closeness to its leaders gives Albright a good background to explain the diplomatic and political high-wire act the country had to perform, trying to preserve its culture and economy against the aggression of its neighbors and the relative indifference of its friends. She writes an excellent, readable history of the political and diplomatic history of the country.
Surprisingly, it is with the personal side of the history that Albright is less successful. I would have liked to know more about her experiences during the Blitz (though she was very young) and, especially, about her parents' decision to convert and what happened to her relatives. I got the impression that because she loved her parents deeply, and they didn't choose to tell her or her siblings about the family history, she may have felt a sense of disloyalty if she'd delved into this subject too deeply.
DISCLOSURE: I received a free review copy of this book.
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it was to read of Neville Chamberlain's crushing dismissal of the situation of the Czechs: "How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-marks here because of a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing."Chamberlain gave us the viewpoint of a citizen of an imperial power. Madeleine Albright shows us what it was like from the other side, for those "people of whom we know nothing," when their aggressive neighbors decided to take over and their supposed allies' support evaporated.
Marie Jana Korbel was born in Prague in 1937 and was just a baby when Hitler annexed the Sudetenland in the northern part of the Czech lands and, shortly thereafter, invaded and made the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia into a Reich Protectorate. Her father, Josef Korbel, was in the diplomatic service and was able to take his family to London, where the Czech government-in-exile had fled, and where he produced wartime radio programs to be broadcast to those back home under the Nazi yoke.
After the war's end, the Korbel family was able to return, and Josef Korbel to resume his diplomatic service, but the Communist coup in 1948 forced them out of their home once again. They were given asylum in the US, where Marie Jana Korbel became Madeleine Albright, the first woman Secretary of State.
You may remember that very shortly after President Clinton named Albright Secretary of State, she learned that her parents were Jewish (though they'd converted to Roman Catholicism before her birth and raised her as a Catholic) and that a score of her close relatives, including three of her grandparents, were killed in Auschwitz and the Czech camp at Terezin (called Theresienstadt by the Germans).
In this book, Albright melds her family history with that of the Czechs (and, much less so, the Slovaks). Jews were among the most assimilated and secularized in Europe, and many considered themselves Czech before Jews, especially when Czechoslovakia became an independent nation after World War I. The country was an industrial powerhouse with a very high literacy rate and a strong cultural life. Of course, its strengths made it a target for Germany and the USSR.
Josef Korbel's position in the Czech government and closeness to its leaders gives Albright a good background to explain the diplomatic and political high-wire act the country had to perform, trying to preserve its culture and economy against the aggression of its neighbors and the relative indifference of its friends. She writes an excellent, readable history of the political and diplomatic history of the country.
Surprisingly, it is with the personal side of the history that Albright is less successful. I would have liked to know more about her experiences during the Blitz (though she was very young) and, especially, about her parents' decision to convert and what happened to her relatives. I got the impression that because she loved her parents deeply, and they didn't choose to tell her or her siblings about the family history, she may have felt a sense of disloyalty if she'd delved into this subject too deeply.
DISCLOSURE: I received a free review copy of this book.
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LibraryThing member rocketjk
There is something a bit misleading about the way this book has been packaged and sold, which is as a memoir. But while the author, Madeleine Albright, who was U.S. Secretary of State during the Clinton Administration, did live through many of the events described, she was too young, for the most
On the other hand, Albright's father was Josef Korbel, who was highly placed in the government of Eduard Benes, the president of Czechoslovakia in the years leading up to the infamous Munich Agreement and then the leader of the Czech government in exile in London during the Nazi occupation of the country. Albright makes use of her father's letters and other writings (plus lots of extensive research) to draw a very interesting picture of the history of these efforts.
In addition, Albright tells us early on that she had been brought up as a Catholic, but that back when she became prominent in the American government, she was contacted by people who had known her family in the old country who told her that in fact both her parents, and her whole family extended family, had been Jewish. Her parents, both passed away long ago, had never told her of this, but the revelation had led to lots of family research by herself and her siblings. It turned out to be true, and they discovered that many (most) of her aunts and uncles and cousins had been killed in the Holocaust. For better or worse, however, Albright presents most of this as a fait accompli in the book and never really delves much into the impact this information had on her personally. Perhaps, learning these facts so relatively late in life, with her personal identity already strongly set, there was no way for her to have have that identity seriously altered, to suddenly feel "Jewish," which is fair enough. What is clear is that Albright was deeply moved by what she learned about her family members and their collective fate.
So this book, as I said, is a history of the Czech experience in the years just prior to, during and after World War Two intertwined with Albright's family history. That's all fine, especially given her father's positions. I learned a lot, especially about details of the machinations that lead up to the Munich Agreement, the agony with the Czechoslovak government as they decided whether or not to fight back against the Nazis even though their English and French "allies" had made it clear through Munich that no help would be forthcoming (they chose not to fight, a decision still, apparently, debated within the country), as well as the developments post-WW2 that led to the establishment of a Communist dictatorship rather than a re-establishment of the pre-war democratic republic.
Sometimes Albright's using her family's experiences as a template for her book are helpful and sometimes they aren't. For example, because her family got out of Prague and spent the war years in London where, as I've said, her father was highly placed in the government in exile, we get an interesting picture of the struggles and concerns of that effort. But we also get a very lengthy and detailed description of life during the London blitz. It would be one thing if we were getting Albright's actual memories, but in fact she was only five, so her memories are mostly vague and the chapter is much more research than memoir. That's fine for anyone who has never read an account of the blitz, but I have read many, and I found this account well done but mostly an interruption of the real story being told. And since the family was in England rather than in their home country, the account of the experience back home during the occupation by necessity becomes a straight history rather than any sort of memoir.
Also, because many of Albright's family members were imprisoned for years and ultimately perished in the Terezin concentration camp, we get a long, detailed and extremely harrowing account of what life was like in that cruel and frightful place. An important part of the Czech national experience during the war, certainly. And an important part of Albright's family history, even if she only learned this was part of her family history decades later. But Albright's decision to suddenly pivot from the flow of her wider history and to a close-up examination of the camp still felt somehow disjointed to me. Oddly, however, I can't decide quite whether I find this a flaw or a strength in the book overall.
The bottom line is that I do recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of Czechoslovakia during this period. The book is very well written--how much by Albright and how much by her co-writer of course I don't know--and within each chapter flows very well. I just wish it had been presented as something like "A national history and a family history," which it is, rather than as "A personal story of remembrance and war," which, to me at least, it very often seems not to be.
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part, to have cogent memories of them today. What we have, mainly, is a history of the Czech national experience during the years of World War Two and immediately afterwards.On the other hand, Albright's father was Josef Korbel, who was highly placed in the government of Eduard Benes, the president of Czechoslovakia in the years leading up to the infamous Munich Agreement and then the leader of the Czech government in exile in London during the Nazi occupation of the country. Albright makes use of her father's letters and other writings (plus lots of extensive research) to draw a very interesting picture of the history of these efforts.
In addition, Albright tells us early on that she had been brought up as a Catholic, but that back when she became prominent in the American government, she was contacted by people who had known her family in the old country who told her that in fact both her parents, and her whole family extended family, had been Jewish. Her parents, both passed away long ago, had never told her of this, but the revelation had led to lots of family research by herself and her siblings. It turned out to be true, and they discovered that many (most) of her aunts and uncles and cousins had been killed in the Holocaust. For better or worse, however, Albright presents most of this as a fait accompli in the book and never really delves much into the impact this information had on her personally. Perhaps, learning these facts so relatively late in life, with her personal identity already strongly set, there was no way for her to have have that identity seriously altered, to suddenly feel "Jewish," which is fair enough. What is clear is that Albright was deeply moved by what she learned about her family members and their collective fate.
So this book, as I said, is a history of the Czech experience in the years just prior to, during and after World War Two intertwined with Albright's family history. That's all fine, especially given her father's positions. I learned a lot, especially about details of the machinations that lead up to the Munich Agreement, the agony with the Czechoslovak government as they decided whether or not to fight back against the Nazis even though their English and French "allies" had made it clear through Munich that no help would be forthcoming (they chose not to fight, a decision still, apparently, debated within the country), as well as the developments post-WW2 that led to the establishment of a Communist dictatorship rather than a re-establishment of the pre-war democratic republic.
Sometimes Albright's using her family's experiences as a template for her book are helpful and sometimes they aren't. For example, because her family got out of Prague and spent the war years in London where, as I've said, her father was highly placed in the government in exile, we get an interesting picture of the struggles and concerns of that effort. But we also get a very lengthy and detailed description of life during the London blitz. It would be one thing if we were getting Albright's actual memories, but in fact she was only five, so her memories are mostly vague and the chapter is much more research than memoir. That's fine for anyone who has never read an account of the blitz, but I have read many, and I found this account well done but mostly an interruption of the real story being told. And since the family was in England rather than in their home country, the account of the experience back home during the occupation by necessity becomes a straight history rather than any sort of memoir.
Also, because many of Albright's family members were imprisoned for years and ultimately perished in the Terezin concentration camp, we get a long, detailed and extremely harrowing account of what life was like in that cruel and frightful place. An important part of the Czech national experience during the war, certainly. And an important part of Albright's family history, even if she only learned this was part of her family history decades later. But Albright's decision to suddenly pivot from the flow of her wider history and to a close-up examination of the camp still felt somehow disjointed to me. Oddly, however, I can't decide quite whether I find this a flaw or a strength in the book overall.
The bottom line is that I do recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of Czechoslovakia during this period. The book is very well written--how much by Albright and how much by her co-writer of course I don't know--and within each chapter flows very well. I just wish it had been presented as something like "A national history and a family history," which it is, rather than as "A personal story of remembrance and war," which, to me at least, it very often seems not to be.
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LibraryThing member BooksCooksLooks
This book was not what I was expecting. It was less a story of Mrs. Albright's memories during the events of WWII in her birth country of Czechoslovakia then it was the story of her father's experiences as a diplomat for the country before, during and after the War. It was, despite the slightly
I must admit up front to an appalling lack of knowledge of Czechoslovakian history. This despite my mother's family coming from an area bordering Poland and what is now Slovakia. I have basic knowledge of WWII history and how it impacted Czechoslovakia but this book gave me an insider's knowledge without reading like a textbook. In fact I completely forgot I was reading non-fiction as I tore through this book.
I found the narrative to be engrossing; the combination of the author's passion for the topic combined with the family remembrances made for a book that read like fiction. The historical figures of the time - and the Czech people - were brought to life and I felt, in quite a few cases as if I was right there as the horrible history of WWII played out.
It's a book both intimate and expansive. It invites you into Mrs. Albright's family history and introduces the reader to the 20th century leaders of a small but pivotal country in Eastern Europe. I can't say it was an easy book to read - what book about WWII is - but I am so very glad I read it.
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misleading subtitle very, very hard to put down. I must admit up front to an appalling lack of knowledge of Czechoslovakian history. This despite my mother's family coming from an area bordering Poland and what is now Slovakia. I have basic knowledge of WWII history and how it impacted Czechoslovakia but this book gave me an insider's knowledge without reading like a textbook. In fact I completely forgot I was reading non-fiction as I tore through this book.
I found the narrative to be engrossing; the combination of the author's passion for the topic combined with the family remembrances made for a book that read like fiction. The historical figures of the time - and the Czech people - were brought to life and I felt, in quite a few cases as if I was right there as the horrible history of WWII played out.
It's a book both intimate and expansive. It invites you into Mrs. Albright's family history and introduces the reader to the 20th century leaders of a small but pivotal country in Eastern Europe. I can't say it was an easy book to read - what book about WWII is - but I am so very glad I read it.
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LibraryThing member krazy4katz
This book is not so much a memoir as it is an account of her family and her native country, Czechoslovakia, before, during and immediately after World War II. Of course Madeleine Albright, with all her experience in foreign policy is the perfect person to write this book. How is it that
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Czechoslovakia exchanged one despot, Adolf Hitler, for another, Josef Stalin? What were the culture influences that caused the disintegration of this nascent democracy so soon after having been occupied, oppressed and murdered by the Nazis. Madeleine Albright tells us as much about ourselves as human beings as she does about historical forces that led to the Cold War. Interestingly, her father was an ambassador to Yugoslavia before and after WWII. The book begins with her discovery that her family was Jewish and never told her. Some people found this difficult to believe but as an American-born daughter of a Jewish refugee from WWII, I find her explanation quite believable. I won't discuss it here, as it is a significant part of the book. The theme that winds through this beautifully written historical narrative is how and why do people make choices. What happens when you have only 2 bad choices? How does one behave when all options are unethical without destroying oneself? How do we, as humanity, learn from the pain and suffering brought about by ethnic rivalry and lack of compassion? I highly recommend this book. I learned a lot and appreciate the lessons learned from studying the history of Czechoslovakia. Show Less
LibraryThing member bachaney
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's Prague Winter tells the story of the fall and subsequent occupation of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis during WWII interspersed with her personal family history during the war. In a now famous incident, Albright did not know that three of her grandparents
Although I was familiar with much of the history in the novel, I felt like Albright's clear and concise presentation made it fresh and interesting to read. Her family stories, which are spread throughout the book gave the history a more personal feel, which I really enjoyed as a reader. Books about this time period, particularly those that deal with the Holocaust, are never exactly enjoyable, but I like Albright's treatment of the material. Only towards the end of the book where the Communists takeover did she seem to lose the historians voice and offer a more biased view of the historical record. Despite this, I found the book informative and well presented.
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died in concentration camps during WWII since she did not know that her family was Jewish, until she was US Secretary of State. It seems that her discovery of this knowledge, as well as her father's history as a member of the Czech exile government in London inspired Albright to write this book, which struck me as a well researched and thoughtful history of the fall, occupation, and eventual Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia.Although I was familiar with much of the history in the novel, I felt like Albright's clear and concise presentation made it fresh and interesting to read. Her family stories, which are spread throughout the book gave the history a more personal feel, which I really enjoyed as a reader. Books about this time period, particularly those that deal with the Holocaust, are never exactly enjoyable, but I like Albright's treatment of the material. Only towards the end of the book where the Communists takeover did she seem to lose the historians voice and offer a more biased view of the historical record. Despite this, I found the book informative and well presented.
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LibraryThing member khiemstra631
I read this book expecting a personal memoir, but it's really more of a history book than a memoir simply because the author was too young at the time that most of the events chronicled occurred to have any personal memories of them. Plus, the time she actually lived in Czechoslovakia adds up to
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surprisingly little. Most of the memoir sections of the book are based on notes left by her parents and interviews with other relatives and survivors. Czech history during World War II and subsequent years is chronicled in detail. Many of the autho'rs relatives were killed in the Holocaust, and that is detailed as much as possible. Since all of Albright's relatives were Jewish, it seems incredible that she did not learn of her Jewish heritage until 1997. Her parents converted to Catholicism during their time in London during the war and apparently never discussed the matter further with their children. This is a good source of information about the history of a formerly progressive European nation and the what led to its Communist takeover as well as a little information on its return to democracy. Interesting but long on history. Show Less
LibraryThing member BK138
Albright's story of her youth during World War II. Sad and moving, with great insight on Czech history and how evil rises to power.
LibraryThing member muddyboy
This book seems to be two books in one which I am not sure is a good thing. At the start it seems it will be a family history when Ms. Albright finds out when being vetted to be Secretary of State by Bill Clinton that her heritage is actually Jewish when she was raised a Catholic. Three of her four
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grandparents were killed during the Holocaust. Then the book veers into the Czech governments struggle to maintain its integrity against the Nazis early and the Russians after World War 2. At this point her family falls to the background and the majority of the book is about internal Czech politics which bogged things down unless you are a real historical junkie. Then toward the end the family rises to prominence once again. I guess I felt she should have run with one theme or the other. It is interesting but unless you have a passion for politics the reading will be a grind for you in parts. Show Less
LibraryThing member SqueakerMarie
Very informative and well-written. This book made me want to learn more about Madeline Albright, a person whom I knew very little about before reading this book.
LibraryThing member debs4jc
She never knew she was Jewish. It wasn't until she was about to become Secretary of State, that Madeleine Albright found out-from a reporter-that her family had Jewish origins. She was surprised, she had always felt like she knew who she was and where she had come from. This book is the result of
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her digging into her family's history and discovering the story of Czechoslovakia and how the events of World War II tore apart her family--and thousands of others. This is not much of a personal story, as a relating of the events that happened with some of Albright's commentary on the decisions that were made by the political leaders. Our book group found much to discuss as we also talked about the decisions that were made and the implications, and how they related to what's going in the world right now. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history. Show Less
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright learned details about her Jewish heritage shortly after her appointment. Albright was born in Czechoslovakia, but spent the war years in England. Her father, Josef Korbel, was a diplomat. He spent the war years with the Czech government in exile
Given Albright’s lifetime involvement in diplomacy, it’s perhaps not surprising that this book focuses as much on Czechoslovakia’s political and diplomatic history during the period covered in the book (1937-1948). I am not as interested in politics, diplomacy, and foreign relations as the author is, so those portions of the book dragged a bit for me.
I listened to the audio version narrated by the author. I discovered that Albright is a better writer than she is a narrator. She paused in the wrong places often enough that it’s noticeable. Listeners who are willing to overlook this minor flaw will be rewarded with a listening experience that’s like having a personal conversation with the author.
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preparing and giving daily broadcasts on BBC radio. Albright’s parents were secular Jews who celebrated Christmas, etc. Some time after their arrival in England, the Korbel family converted to Catholicism, and Albright was raised in the Catholic faith. In this memoir about her childhood, Albright explores her Jewish heritage and the fate of her relatives who died in the Holocaust, including three of her four grandparents. (The fourth grandparent died before the extermination of Czechoslovakia’s Jews began.) Given Albright’s lifetime involvement in diplomacy, it’s perhaps not surprising that this book focuses as much on Czechoslovakia’s political and diplomatic history during the period covered in the book (1937-1948). I am not as interested in politics, diplomacy, and foreign relations as the author is, so those portions of the book dragged a bit for me.
I listened to the audio version narrated by the author. I discovered that Albright is a better writer than she is a narrator. She paused in the wrong places often enough that it’s noticeable. Listeners who are willing to overlook this minor flaw will be rewarded with a listening experience that’s like having a personal conversation with the author.
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LibraryThing member Sheila1957
I found this book fascinating. While telling of her childhood in and out of Czechoslovakia during WWII, Madeleine Albright also gives a history of Czechoslovakia as well as the politics that were occurring during the war. This is the first time I have been given a political history of what is
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happening in eastern Europe. She explains it very well. I could understand her. I liked how she explained the questions that arose from the politics and answered the question with what happened and what would have made the decisions better. Sometimes she just explained why they did what they did. I liked the humor that popped up from time to time as she explained what was going on or as she spoke of the personalities involved. I liked the personal details from her childhood, growing up after 1948, and finding her family's story. Well done and worth the read. Her writing reads like a novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member SandraBrower
I borrowed this book from the library after my father recommended it to me. The book was heartbreaking, uplifting, maddening and a loving legacy to the fight that people have in them to overcome evil tyrany.
Mrs. Albright is a wonderful writer who you can tell loving researched this book to the full
This book was deep, full of detail and took me while to read because I wanted to soak in all the spirits of those who lived in this book.
I didn't know much about the history of Czechoslovakia until reading this book. I knew they were entrenched in the nazis takeover but was unaware as to how many citizens lost their lives in the war.
I highly recommend this book. If you admired Mrs. Albright when she was Secretary of State you will become even more enamored with her learning of her early childhood and the smarts that she shows in this writing.
Mrs. Albright is a wonderful writer who you can tell loving researched this book to the full
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extent of her brilliant mind's capacity and then delved into historical records of family and compadres who lived in her birth country.This book was deep, full of detail and took me while to read because I wanted to soak in all the spirits of those who lived in this book.
I didn't know much about the history of Czechoslovakia until reading this book. I knew they were entrenched in the nazis takeover but was unaware as to how many citizens lost their lives in the war.
I highly recommend this book. If you admired Mrs. Albright when she was Secretary of State you will become even more enamored with her learning of her early childhood and the smarts that she shows in this writing.
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LibraryThing member gbelik
I listened to this book and particularly appreciated that it was read by the author. It is both the personal story of her family and the story of Czechoslovakia during and after World War Two. I did feel it bogged down in the postwar politics of the country, but overall, very interesting and
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enjoyable. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0062030345 / 9780062030344
Physical description
480 p.; 5.31 inches
Pages
480