William V. Wallace graduated in History at the University of Glasgow and in Czechoslovak Regional Studies at the University of London. He has visited Czechoslovakia several times since 1949 and has researched in its archives. He has also travelled and studied in the Soviet Union. In 1953-54 he lectured at the University of Pittsburgh and studied the history of Slavonic immigration into the United States. He has held lecturing appointments in the Universities of London, Aberdeen, and Durham, and is now Professor of History in the New University of Ulster, Coleraine. He has contributed to International Affairs, Slavonic Review, Journal of American Studies , etc.

• Note on the Pronunciation of Czech and Slovak Names -- Introduction -- Book One -- The Czech Lands 1849–1878 -- The Czech Lands 1878–1900 -- The Czech Lands 1900–1914 -- Slovakia 1849–1875 -- Slovakia 1875–1900 -- Slovakia 1900–1914 -- The Creation of the Czechoslovak State -- Book Two -- Establishing Czechoslovakia -- Czechoslovakia in the 1920s -- From the Wall Street Crash to Munich and Prague -- The Resurrection of Czechoslovakia -- From Liberation to Communism -- Communist Czechoslovakia -- Reform and Reaction 1968 -- Interlude