Prague: Belonging in the Modern City

I'm pleased to report that fellow Czech specialist Chad Bryant's new book Prague: Belonging in the Modern City will be out in May. In Prague, belonging has often been linked to a sense of nation. Grand medieval buildings and national monuments emphasize a glorious, shared history. Governmental architecture has melded politics and nationhood. Yet not all inhabitants have been included in this nurturing of national belonging. Socialists, dissidents, Jews, Germans, and Vietnamese have all been subjected to persecution in their home city.

In this book, Chad "tells the stories of five marginalized individuals who, over the last two centuries, forged their own notions of belonging in one of Europe’s great cities." Though not famous people, their lives are revealing, speaking to "tensions between exclusionary nationalism and on-the-ground diversity." This aspiring guidebook writer, German-speaking newspaperman, Bolshevik carpenter, actress of mixed heritage coming of age during the Communist terror, and Czech-speaking Vietnamese blogger all "struggle against alienation and dislocation, forging alternative communities in cafes, workplaces, and online. While strolling park paths, joining political marches, or writing about their lives, these outsiders came to embody a city that, on its surface, was built for others."

I'm eager to read this! We can pre-order here.