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Prague Spring

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Prague Spring

By: Simon Mawer
Narrated by: Dugald Bruce Lockhart
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About this listen

In the summer of 1968, the year of Prague Spring with a Cold War winter, Oxford students James Borthwick and Eleanor Pike set out to hitchhike across Europe, complicating a budding friendship that could be something more. Having reached southern Germany, they decide on a whim to visit Czechoslovakia, where Alexander Dubcek's 'socialism with a human face' is smiling on the world.

Meanwhile, Sam Wareham, First Secretary at the British embassy in Prague, observes developments in the country with a diplomat's cynicism and a young man's passion. In the company of Czech student Lenka Konecková, he finds a way into the world of Czechoslovak youth, with all its hopes and new ideas; now, nothing seems off-limits behind the Iron Curtain. But the great wheels of politics are grinding in the background; Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev is making demands of Dubcek, and the Red Army is massing on the borders.

©2018 Simon Mawer (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Red Army
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Loved this. The narrator has an excellent command of a number of European languages and accents. Interesting story of how the cold war affected people.

Fascinating historical narrative

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I tried and gave up a couple of times before a final attempt where I persisted. I found the main characters at the beginning rather irritating and the storyline uncompelling. As the story moved into Europe and further characters entered the story, the plot became much more interesting. I enjoyed the historical perspective and how the protagonists navigated events and politics. Depiction of the British character and culture of that period was amusing and interesting. There were still some annoying parts of the story that were either lame or cliched, but on the whole it was a good listen.

Slow burn

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