Download or read book Central Europe Since 1945 written by Paul G. Lewis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Central Europe - here, Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia and Hungary - is at the centre of international attention since the Soviet collapse. An understanding of its postwar history is critical to an appreciation of the challenges facing its present rulers. This is an engrossing account of the installation, development, operation and eventual downfall of its (very different) communist regimes, and the transition to the freedoms and uncertainties of the post-Soviet world. The book covers political, economic, social and cultural change, emphasising the crucial relationships with the USSR throughout.