"'What happens to East Central Europe will affect the destinies of all of us so that it behoves us to gain familiarity with its history. Unlike most other historians, Professor Wandycz treats the region as a whole, in a single, masterly tract.' Istvan Deak, Columbia University, New York"

• Introduction: what's in a name? 1. The medieval heritage 2. The challenge of the modern age 3. The seventeenth century crisis 4. Enlightened absolutism or enlightened liberty? 5. The age of liberal nationalism 6. From compromise to independence 7. The difficult independence 8. The hard road to freedom

"'What happens to East Central Europe will affect the destinies of all of us so that it behoves us to gain familiarity with its history. Unlike most other historians, Professor Wandycz treats the region as a whole, in a single, masterly tract.' Istvan Deak, Columbia University, New York"

• Introduction: what's in a name? 1. The medieval heritage 2. The challenge of the modern age 3. The seventeenth century crisis 4. Enlightened absolutism or enlightened liberty? 5. The age of liberal nationalism 6. From compromise to independence 7. The difficult independence 8. The hard road to freedom

"'What happens to East Central Europe will affect the destinies of all of us so that it behoves us to gain familiarity with its history. Unlike most other historians, Professor Wandycz treats the region as a whole, in a single, masterly tract.' Istvan Deak, Columbia University, New York"

• Introduction: what's in a name? 1. The medieval heritage 2. The challenge of the modern age 3. The seventeenth century crisis 4. Enlightened absolutism or enlightened liberty? 5. The age of liberal nationalism 6. From compromise to independence 7. The difficult independence 8. The hard road to freedom