On the Edge of the Cold War: American Diplomats and Spies in Postwar Prague
"Vividly told." --Kieran Williams,Times Literary Supplement"Lukes's work is more than a study of postwar events in one country in Eastern Europe caught up in the rivalry between Washington and Moscow. He makes a significant contribution to the field of cold war studies. Although the Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia was unique and delayed compared to other East European countries, Lukes gives insight not just into the role of U.S. policy, but also into Moscow's reactions and its perceptions of Washington as well as what was happening in the Prague government . Will be the major account of this period in U.S.-Czechoslovak relations for many years to come."--Paul Kubricht,H-Net"Lukes convincingly backs up his arguments with fascinating depictions of the personalities involved, which are detailed and penetrating but never unkind or unconscious of attractive traits. Highly Recommended." --CHOICE"As Igor Lukes shows inOn the Edge of the Cold War, his engrossing chronicle of the days when Czechoslovakia hung in the balance, the country's place behind the Iron Curtain was anything but foreordained...an invaluable account."  --Wall Street Journal"This is a surprisingly good book. It is surprising because it could have been a narrowly focused dry scholarly diplomatic history. Instead,On the Edge of the Cold Warprovides a brisk narrative that includes lively portraits of American diplomats and spies and raises the question of whether America could have saved Czechoslovakia from Communist takeover in 1948." --H-Diplo"Though full of thrilling detail, this excellent history of the failure of American diplomats and spies to support Czechoslovak democracy before the communist takeover is ultimately quite sobering. Deep research in both American and Czech archives reveals some of the lessons that Americans had to learn in order to become a great power." --Timothy Snyder, author ofBloodlands"Espionage and intelligence-gathering have often been described as the 'missing dimension' in the historiography of the Cold War.  Igor Lukes's fascinating book fills in this dimension in great detail.  By showing how U.S. intelligence agencies went astray in early postwar Czechoslovakia, Lukes's gripping narrative sheds invaluable light on the initial years of the Cold War." --Mark Kramer, Cold War Studies Program, Harvard University"Superb and unique--I know of no account of the Cold War's beginnings as vivid and entertaining as this or as full of lessons and warnings for today.  Igor Lukes presents these three postwar years as a high-stake drama, full of suspense.  Had that drama ended differently--and he reminds us that it could have--it would have changed the shape of the Cold War that was to beset the world for two generations.  With sinking hearts we watch Czechoslovak democracy--this pivot point, this 'master key to Europe'--being lost, step by step, by wrong-headed Western policies, naiveté, lack of will, and inept intelligence work." --Tennent H. Bagley, author ofSpy Wars"Unique among studies of the history of the Cold War, Lukes's book is a penetrating account of the human cost of U.S. diplomacy and intelligence for their practitioners as well as their unintended victims during the formative period of the global conflict. A result of prodigious multi-archival research, the absorbing narrative puts the catalytic role of Czechoslovakia into a new light." --Vojtech Mastny, author ofThe Cold War and Soviet Insecurity"With inventive research and skillful storytelling, Igor Lukes reconstructs the crucial Cold War history of Czechoslovakia between the collapse of the Third Reich and the momentous February 1948 Czech coup. A striking cast of characters--adventurous spies, naive diplomats, secret police rogues, and seductive women--inhabits this intriguing, if ultimately tragic, tale of the fecklessness of the U.S. government when facing the destruction of Czechoslovak democracy." --Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University"In his meticulously researched book "On the Edge of the Cold War: American Diplomats and Spies in Postwar Prague," historian Igor Lukes describes how a small group of Soviet-backed communists were able to seize power in Czechoslovakia in 1948." -Washington Times