Publisher's Synopsis
To purchase the complete book, vol. 1 and vol. 2 must be purchased individually.
Although personal stories of the Second World War are numerous, timeless stories such as this are particularly apropos our present struggle over the tyranny of terrorism. Czechoslovakia during the dreadful years of the Second World War is the setting of this epic and harrowing Holocaust thriller, written by a retired General of the Slovak Army who personally witnessed and lived through the wartime events he writes about. The book's central focus is how Democratic Czechoslovakia, a fledging nation geographically trapped between two tyrannical powers destined for war and determined to dominate this small, yet historically strategic land, was repeatedly betrayed by her allies and left helplessly to herself. As Slovakia is presently turning a new chapter in her rich history by denouncing her 50-year affair with Marxism and embracing Western Democracy, we find slowly emerging from the dusty dungeons of her memory a new and honest appraisal of the agonizing and shameful events she endured between 1938 and 1948. General Vlcko plainly and truthfully presents the long-suppressed, poorly known, and often-misunderstood facts of this tumultuous decade in Czechoslovakia.
From the bloody Russian front to a military uprising in the Slovak mountains and a Communist putsch, the Vlckos live through two of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century-Nazism and Communism. This historical thriller has all the elements of a timeless story: intrigue; espionage; war; racism; genocide; political tyranny; forbidden romance; imprisonment; daring escapes; and freedom. In addition to the events in Czechoslovakia during the turbulent decade of 1938-1948, the second edition includes a novel examination of the origins of the Nazi and Communist movements, the history and etiology of modern anti-Semitism, the Russian Revolution and civil war, the "Jewish Question" in Slovakia, the Soviet Union's role in the Slovak National Uprising, the 1948 Communist putsch in Czechoslovakia, and war crimes trials and amnesty. In addressing these issues, the second edition explores the inextricable nexus between theology, philosophy, political theory, art, historiography, and culture. These subjects, presented in an integrated and holistic approach, are of particular interest to historians, political theorists, philosophers, theologians, psychologists, and other scholars in the humanities. Closing out this sweeping, landmark magnum opus, the reader is left with a provocative examination of how humanity in all its progressive modernity could have produced such enormous tragedies as Nazism and Communism, the timeless lessons, thereof, and a challenge to all citizens to explore under what ethical circumstances one may and must revolt against a tyrannical government. The second edition has an extensive bibliography with over 600 citations.
Preserved from the original edition is the moving story of a love affair between a young, beautiful, hunted, and condemned Jew trapped in the lion's den and a handsome, well-positioned Aryan Slovak Army officer in the Ministry of National Defense whose unlikely fates and disparate backgrounds amalgamate in symbiotic harmony. Their story is the perfect antithesis to, yet microcosm in the thunderous backdrop of war and genocide. The stark contrast of these two settings epitomizes the two extremes of the human experience: the insanity and chaos of war and the blissful serenity of love.
