Download or read book The Roundtable Talks and the Breakdown of Communism written by Jon Elster and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1996-09 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In five country-specific reports, senior scholars provide detailed accounts of the talks in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic. These essays capture the historical circumstances of these countries - their traditions, customs, and the balance of influence between competing factions - that often took precedence over constitutional ideals.