About that Benes guy

Although Edvard Beneš has been dead for more than three-quarters of a century, he remains the subject of more debate and controversy than any other modern Czech politician. He was instrumental in the creation of the first Czechoslovak state in 1918, but he also signed away democracy in our country on two occasions (in 1938 and from 1945–1948). Is he the culprit responsible for the fact that many people in our country still struggle to relate to democracy? Will we argue endlessly about whether a state with so many minorities was designed to be viable, whether we should have defended ourselves instead of accepting the Munich Agreement, whether the expulsion of the Germans was acceptable, and whether it was right to align the state with the Soviet Union instead of the West, etc.? Kosatík's book, based on thorough material study, is intended for the general public. The author believes that we can overcome the traumas associated with Beneš's name, avoid repeating past mistakes, and build a better relationship with our state than the one we have inherited – and therefore strives for a new, unbiased perspective on this hero.