Bohemia, Moravia, and Moravian Silesia have a chequered history. The areas were originally settled by Celtic-Germanic peoples. The Slavs migrated into the region in the early Middle Ages, and the regions soon became part of Christian Europe. They rose to become one of the dominant powers in central Europe in the fourteenth century under the rule of the native Premyslids dynasty and Luxembourg dynasty. Following initial conflicts, they began to cooperate closely with their larger neighbour, the Holy Roman Empire - and a Bohemian king, Charles IV, eventually rose to wear the imperial crown. In the fifteenth century, it was again Bohemia that ushered in the age of the Reformation in Europe with the Defenestration of Prague. In an entertaining way backed up with solid research, Peter Hilsch guides the reader through the exciting and eventful history of Bohemia and Moravia.
