Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright is a personal story about the remembrance of the Cold War. Albright had been impacted by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia when she was twelve, as the Czech Republic was the country in which she had been born. This narrative provides insight into the most riotous decade of human history, as it depicts Albright and her family’s experiences. This novel is a recollection of memories that had been pieced together to tell a disturbing yet inspiring tale. The sources of the novel include Albright’s faint memories, documentation by her parents, interviews with some Cold War civilians, and exclusive revisionist documents. Prague Winter is a timeless exploration of the Cold War tales, as it travels back into human history with a personal twist. The book is constructed with multiple settings ranging anywhere from the bomb shelters of London to ancient Bohemian castles to Terezin’s penitentiaries.
Albright, throughout the account echoes the unearthing of her family’s Jewish heritage years after the war had concluded. She explores Czech’s confusing history, and she also evaluates the decisions of her family and companions in regards to morals during the war era. Because she predominantly relied on the memories of ordinary civilians, Albright’s writing is also overwhelmingly made of the impact of war on normal citizens. Due to the impact of war, ordinary citizens were forced into becoming exile leaders or freedom fighters, victims and murders, demonstrating the brutality of the situation during this period. This time period was so influential that it was able to change normal citizens to leaders. Albright also touches of the complexity of the human emotions when she explores the impact of this war on children. Children learn about trust just as much as they learn about fear as they embark on a journey of self-exploration.
This piece of literature is a rare combination of recent history in the form of a personal memoir. Prague Winter is a teaching for our future with the lessons from past. It is a request to stop history from repeating, a humble request to prevent the repletion of mistakes. The book drenched in melancholy and vexation, which is best demonstrated in the following quote by Albright: "No one who lived through the years of 1937 to 1948, was a stranger to profound sadness. Millions of innocents did not survive, and their deaths must never be forgotten. Today we lack the power to reclaim lost lives, but we have a duty to learn all that we can about what happened and why."
