Man in the gears of history. A Century of the City District of Prague 5 in Human Fates
In their publication, historians Lukáš Cvrček and Pavel Fabini present the significant historical events and processes of the twentieth century through the fates of specific people connected with today's Prague 5 district, both leading personalities of the political or business world who co-shaped history and ordinary people whose lives were affected by the revolutionary moments. The unifying backdrop of the stories is the space of the villages and towns that make up contemporary Prague 5, where there were heavily industrialised areas, but also places of a completely rural character.
The publication shows the diverse range of interactions between individuals and society in the context of situations such as the First World War, the birth of Czechoslovakia, the world economic crisis, the occupation by the Great German Reich, the May Uprising, the rise of the communist regime, the invasion of the armies of the five Warsaw Pact states, and the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Significant events are presented in the book at specific places and locations in the district that readers know from their everyday lives. And on the fates of people who lived in their surroundings. History thus becomes close and tangible for the reader. And, by linking events and lives, imaginable and understandable. The authors' narrative is supplemented by a rich pictorial appendix (more than 200 historical photographs) and links to audiovisual recordings of interviews with the witnesses.