Books in the Historical Dictionaries of Europe series

Portugal is a small Western European nation with a large, distinctive past replete with both triumph and tragedy. One of the continents oldest nation-states, Portugal has frontiers that are essentially unchanged since the late 14th century. The countrys unique character and 850-year history as an independent state present several curious paradoxes. As of 1974, when much of the remainder of the Portuguese overseas empire was decolonized, Portuguese society appeared to be the most ethnically homogeneous of the two Iberian states and of much of Europe. This, in spite of the fact that Portuguese society had received during 2,000 years of infusions of other ethnic groups in invasions and immigration: Phoenicians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Suevi, Visigoths, Muslims (Arab and Berber), Jews, Italians, Flemings, Burgundian French, black Africans, and Asians. Indeed, Portugal has been a crossroads, despite its relative isolation in the western corner of the Iberian Peninsula, between the West and North Africa, Tropical Africa, and Asia and America. Since 1974, Portugals society has become less homogeneous as there has been significant immigration of former subjects from her erstwhile overseas empire.The third edition of Historical Dictionary of Portugal greatly expands on the second edition through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions, as well as on significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.

Czechoslovakia has been at the center of some of the most difficult_and tragic_episodes of modern European history: its sacrifice to Nazi Germany at Munich; the Communist Coup of 1948; and the military crushing of the Prague Spring. It has also enacted momentous change almost magically, as in the peaceful overthrow of communism in 1989, and then the negotiated end to the country in 1992. Czechoslovak history has consequently produced enduring political metaphors for our times, such as the Velvet Revolution and Velvet Divorce. The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Czech State has been thoroughly updated and greatly expanded. Featuring a chronology, introductory essay, appendix, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries, this detailed, authoritative reference provides understandings of the Czechs as a people; the territory they inhabit; their social, cultural, political, and economic developments throughout history; and interactions with their neighbors and the wider world.

Croatia, a former republic of Yugoslavia, has been a self-declared independent state since July 25, 1991. To its own people, however, it is a much older country that is finally getting another chance to forge a nation. The Croats trace their roots back many centuries, and the depth of this resurgent nationalism helps explain why Yugoslavia split as it did and where it did. As Croatia and its people try to make a success of their new state, they can take hope in the notable progress that has already been made in regards to its economic restructuring, democratization, and a rapprochement with their neighbors and Europe more broadly. The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of Croatia relates the history of this country through a detailed chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and religious facets.