Books, Arts & Manners: Ghost Story

The Haunted Land, by Tina Rosenberg (Random House, 437pp., $25)

TINA ROSENBERG is to be congratulated on picking what may be the most important intellectual challenge of the 1990s, namely, how should the part of humanity that fell under Communist rule deal with its legacy. Using East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, she has highlighted the difficulties these societies face in coming to terms with their totalitarian past. The book is both a useful recent history of the region and an inquisition into the choices that now face it. It is well researched and engagingly written.

RS

About the Author

Radek Sikorski

Featured Tags

The Haunted Land, by Tina Rosenberg (Random House, 437pp., $25)

TINA ROSENBERG is to be congratulated on picking what may be the most important intellectual challenge of the 1990s, namely, how should the part of humanity that fell under Communist rule deal with its legacy. Using East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, she has highlighted the difficulties these societies face in coming to terms with their totalitarian past. The book is both a useful recent history of the region and an inquisition into the choices that now face it. It is well researched and engagingly written.