Josette Baer's book Slavic Thinkers or The Creation of Polities is a good comparative study of six 19th century philosophers/politicians who were active in CEE. They all had very differing views on nationhood, history, region etc. and Baer is attempting to use these opinions in order to explain why the countries in question (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Macedonia*, Croatia and Serbia) have followed such different paths after the break-ups of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia respctively, despite a common communist past.Furthemore, the books gives some useful information on the relations in the Balkans, as well as the internal relationships of the Austro-Hungarian empire to those who slept through history class.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the CEE-countries in particular, and in democratisation processes in general.
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