Read in 2026 - 33: Prague Winter

Prague Winter

Madeleine Albright

Once again, I have not lost count of the books I have read. #32 will share a review with #34, but this one - #33 - fully deserves its own post.

A paperback lent to me from my book-swapping friend A., "Prague Winter" is not merely an autobiography focusing on Madeleine Albright's childhood. It is also not merely a book about WWII and the years immediately preceding and following it, or yet another account of the horrors committed by the Nazis (and others) during those years.

It's all of it, and more. The book puts the author's family history in the context of her country of origin's history, and that in the wider context of European politics shaped by the contradicting ideologies of communism, capitalism and patriotism, with racism and anti-Semitism being by no means exclusive to just one nation.

While I knew a little bit about Madeleine Albright*, there was a lot more I didn't. She herself only learnt at the age of 59 that her family was originally Jewish and that a large number of her relatives were murdered in the Holocaust.

Her parents put the family's safety first, but her father was definitely not one to take a back seat in politics and current events; he talked to everyone he met, listened to their differing ideas and opinions, maintained his personal integrity during his entire career as a diplomat and later professor, raised a family and didn't take lightly the choices he made. The author loved both her parents dearly but was influenced mainly by her father's example.

Also, of course I knew (we were taught at school and also from my own reading) how the Nazis rose to power, how they started the second World War and all the atrocities they commited. But I didn't know what a pivotal role Czechoslovakia had played, and how the reluctance and misplaced trust of several of the other heads of state contributed to it all.

I find this an important book, as well researched as it is written. In the back, the book contains a useful list of personalities mentioned, and an even more useful timeline as well as extensive notes pointing to the sources of quotations and statements.

Next time I'll see friend A., I'll ask if she has more books written by Madeleine Albright.

*For instance, that she was a refugee herself, as I only learned from the unforgettable R-E-S-P-E-C-T campaign video. Sorry for the bad quality, it's the only one I found at a quick research on youtube.