The Prague Spring 1968: A National Security Archive Documents Reader

This is the first ever documented account of a Cold War crisis as seen from both sides of the Iron Curtain. Based on unprecedented access to the previously closed archives of each member-state of the Warsaw Pact, the book offers a unique look at a deeply divisive crisis.

Highly readable, the book includes top-level documents from Kremlin Politburo meetings, multilateral sessions of the Warsaw Pact leading up to the decision to invade, and even transcripts of KGB-recorded telephone conversations between Leonid Brezhnev and Alexander Dubcek. Once highly classified American documents from the National Security Council, CIA, and other agencies are also included.

To provide a historical and political context, the book includes an introductory essay for each section, and a chronology, glossary, and bibliography provide further background information. As members of the commission appointed by Vaclav Havel to investigate the events of 1967-70, the editors have a unique Czech-Slovak perspective to offer to foreign readers.