This book takes a look at five countries in this region--Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia--exploring both what they are like today and how they have become what they are through the course of their histories. Each had ties to the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires in earlier times, all became Eastern-bloc countries in the 20th century, and all successfully emerged from Communist rule in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Chapter 1. Bulgaria : the land and its people -- chapter 2. The Bulgarian economy -- chapter 3. Bulgarian government and society -- chapter 4. Bulgarian cultural life -- chapter 5. Bulgaria : past and present -- chapter 6. Hungary : the land and its people -- chapter 7. The Hungarian economy -- chapter 8. Hungarian government and society -- chapter 9. Hungarian cultural life -- chapter 10. Hungary : past and present -- chapter 11. Romania : the land and its people -- chapter 12. The Romanian economy -- chapter 13. Romanian government and society -- chapter 14. Romanian cultural life -- chapter 15. Romania : past and present -- chapter 16. The Czech Republic : the land and its people -- chapter 17. The Czech economy -- chapter 18. Czech government and society -- chapter 19. Czech cultural life -- chapter 20. Slovakia : the land and its people -- chapter 21. The Slovak economy -- chapter 22. Slovak government and society -- chapter 23. Slovak cultural life -- chapter 24. Czech and Slovak history.