The Mystifications of a Nation: “The Potato Bug” and Other Essays on Czech Culture

(University of Wisconsin Press) In this book of essays by the Czech writer, Macura analyzes a variety of cultural phenomena that originate, he argues, in the “big bang” of the 19th century Czech National Revival, with is celebration of a uniquely Czech identity. In reflections on two centuries of Czech history, he ponders the symbolism in daily life. Cravens is a fellow of Czech Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.