The uses of adversity : essays on the fate of Central Europe

Ten years ago Timothy Garton Ash came to East Berlin to find out from the archives what the Berliners had done under Hitler. Instead he found out - from the streets - what the Berliners were doing under Honecker. He observed the 'elections’; interviewed the local party members and talked into the night with an actor ('Dr Faust') who also worked for the State Security Service. He wrote about what he saw - in German - and the authorities protested. When he tried to return to East Berlin, he was turned back. He went to Poland and wrote a history of Solidarity. It was translated into Polish and became an underground bestseller. He was blacklisted at the frontier. He went to Prague to attend a Charter 77 meeting, but was met instead by the secret police. His reputation now seems to arrive before him. Ten years ago Timothy Garton Ash began to discover Central Europe. 'The Uses of Adversity' records what he found. ADVERSITY PREFACE CONTENTS SKETCHES FROM ANOTHER GERMANY Nostalgia Carmen-Sylva-Strasse Inner Emigration Dr. Faust in Schwerin Libraries of a Vanished State A Tale of Two Germantes COMRADE BRECHT THE POPE IN POLAND CZECHOSLOVAKIA UNDER ICE THE GERMAN QUESTION i 2 3 4 THE USES OF ADVERSITY THE LIFE OF DEATH i 2 3 4 A HUNGARIAN LESSON Background Reading The Lesson Comprehension Test Notes A FEW IDEAS . . . NOTHING NEW! EAST-WEST DIVAN Prague Paris DOES CENTRAL EUROPE EXIST? 1 2 3 4 PRE-SPRING Prague: The Yeoman and the Cardinal Gdansk: Inside The Lenin Shipyard Budapest: Death to Nero! THE PRAGUE ADVERTISEMENT Symposium Advertisement Commentary The Permanent Symposium Czechoslovakia 88 The World To Be Concluded REFORM OR REVOLUTION? Forty Tears On Gorbachev Ottomanization Decay Emancipation Reform Poland Hungary Back to Central Europe? NOTEBOOK REFOLUTION INDEX Essays On The Political Flwering In Poland And Hungary, In Czechoslavakia And East Germany, And On The Decline Of The Soviet Empire In Eastern Europe And The Rise Of West German Influence In Middle Europe. Sketches From Another Germany -- Comrade Brecht -- The Pope In Poland -- Czechoslovakia Under The Ice -- The German Question -- The Uses Of Adversity -- The Life Of Death -- A Hungarian Lesson -- A Few Ideas...nothing New! -- East-west Divan -- Does Central Europe Exist? -- Pre-spring -- The Prague Advertisement -- Reform Or Revolution? -- Notebook -- Refolution Timothy Garton Ash. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References. Essays on the political flwering in Poland and Hungary, in Czechoslovakia and East Germany, and on the decline of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe and the rise of West German influence in Middle Europe