"This encyclopedia explores the history of this complex region over the last two centuries." "Articles are included on countries and regions of Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the countries that once made up Yugoslavia. European Russia is also included. These articles are both detailed and concise, offering the reader a brief but comprehensive introduction into a country's history during the last two centuries - a crucial time when Europe was swept by wars and convulsive political change that shaped the present." "The book covers not only the leading figures who shaped the region's political destiny, but also the major artists, writers, and other culturally significant individuals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some of these figures are known in the West, while others will be new to many readers." "An extensive map program enriches the text and helps the reader place a topic in geographic context. A bibliography at the end of each entry directs the reader to accessible sources for further reading or research on Eastern European history."--[book jacket]