{"product_id":"the-taste-of-ashes-9780099558989","title":"The Taste of Ashes","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA superb account of complex psyche of Eastern Europe in the wake of the revolutions of 1989 and the opening of the communist archives.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the tradition of Timothy Garton Ash's \u003ci\u003eThe File, \u003c\/i\u003eYale historian and prize-winning author Marci Shore draws upon intimate understanding to illuminate the afterlife of totalitarianism. \u003ci\u003eThe Taste of Ashes\u003c\/i\u003e spans from Berlin to Moscow, moving from Vienna in Europe's west through Prague, Bratislava, Warsaw and Bucharest to Vilnius and Kiev in the post-communist east. The result is a shimmering literary examination of the ghost of communism  no longer Marx's ''spectre to come'' but a haunting presence of the past.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarci Shore builds her history around people she came to know over the course of the two decades since communism came to an end in Eastern Europe: her colleagues and friends, once-communists and once-dissidents, the accusers and the accused, the interrogators and the interrogated, Zionists, Bundists, Stalinists\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e[A] brilliant and perceptive book about a part of the world, as [Shore] explains, ‘where the past is palpable and heavy’ ... \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003epart memoir, part reportage, a treatise on the philosophy of history, and part romance written with lyrical beauty in places\u003c\/b\u003e…\u003cb\u003ethere’s an interesting and original idea on almost every page\u003c\/b\u003e. * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart-memoir, part-intellectual history\u003c\/b\u003e, Shore’s book follows her journey into the heart of the Polish and Czech intelligentsia, exploring their reactions to and involvement in the Holocaust, the purges and the revolutions that dominate 20th century Eastern European history….\u003cb\u003epoignant and thought-provoking.\u003c\/b\u003e * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHer fine book is a very personal account of the people that she came to know in eastern Europe after the end of Soviet domination in 1989\u003c\/b\u003e… The novelty of Shore’s approach lies in her focus on the families of Poland’s Stalinists. * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e[Shore’s] kaleidoscope book of reminiscences and encounters gives an authentic feel to the difficulties that outsiders often have in making sense of this intricate history…\u003cb\u003eMs Shore…does an excellent job of bringing to life the still rancorous relations between Jews of rival persuasions.\u003c\/b\u003e * The Economist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeautifully written, brilliantly perceptive and often moving\u003c\/b\u003e… With the opening of the archives, many excellent histories of communist eastern Europe have appeared in recent years… but I cannot think of any that succeed so well as this. \u003cb\u003eIn combining subtle historical judgements with literary flair,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eShore has produced a masterpiece\u003c\/b\u003e. * BBC History Magazine *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornerstone","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51742116610391,"sku":"9780099558989","price":999.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099558989.jpg?v=1758380562","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-taste-of-ashes-9780099558989","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}