No Import Fees Deposit & $15.81 Shipping to Finland Details

Delivery December 30 - January 12

In Stock.

[{"displayPrice":"$29.95","priceAmount":29.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"29","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"JmhU32eEBILfL2QKp1Vi9WI%2B81x0EL33CD5cgr8vPb22wF%2BCICyvXeC7pdmEUDdfu%2BD%2BeVbiWjG%2FlaGneigvC5%2BAKog%2F8ljeC4WhQHs4lZHIhyVjtAVsL63Cq2I7Kywt1kDAD4sZ8sE%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$15.12","priceAmount":15.12,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"12","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"QMOSpktpE5HtWH8x18%2BEUSlDyLric8HFAnVm%2BjS1MqR%2FhwDap0zgrTYf%2BuRdOlEuqXy3XxrpuetIlalkvgAggPTQnvsJ4zqDrsorVO1wgZbZ91TqXeKsZHDE2TRPuck4yK0kF2zHrFLDK8OmWUDikixllITLQiJsJ%2FEOzdIGXGRtcJSvKvnGjoCV97SYZ3P9","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$29.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: Returnable until Jan 31, 2023

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$19.98 delivery January 19 - February 9. Details

Deliver to Finland

Used: Good | Details

Sold by glenthebookseller

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Add to List

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Vladimir Tismaneanu

Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism, and Myth in Post-Communist Europe Paperback – June 28, 2009

by Vladimir Tismaneanu (Author)

2 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$21.95

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$6.60

$19.95

$2.63

Paperback

"Please retry"

$29.95

$10.85

$15.12

Enhance your purchase

Eastern Europe has become an ideological battleground since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with liberals and authoritarians struggling to seize the ground lost by Marxism. In Fantasies of Salvation, Vladimir Tismaneanu traces the intellectual history of this struggle and warns that authoritarian nationalists pose a serious threat to democratic forces.

A leading observer of the often baffling world of post-Communist Europe, Tismaneanu shows that extreme nationalistic and authoritarian thought has been influential in Eastern Europe for much of this century, while liberalism has only shallow historical roots. Despite democratic successes in places such as the Czech Republic and Poland, he argues, it would be a mistake for the West to assume that liberalism will always triumph. He backs this argument by showing how nationalist intellectuals have encouraged ethnic hatred in such countries as Russia, Romania, and the former Yugoslavia by reviving patriotic myths of heroes, scapegoats, and historical injustices. And he shows how enthusiastically these myths have been welcomed by people desperate for some form of "salvation" from political and economic uncertainty.

On a theoretical level, Tismaneanu challenges the common ideas that the ideological struggle is between "right" and "left" or between "nationalists" and "internationalists." In a careful analysis of the conflict's ideological roots, he argues that it is more useful and historically accurate to view the struggle as between those who embrace the individualist traditions of the Enlightenment and those who reject them.

Tismaneanu himself has been active in the intellectual battles he describes, particularly in his native Romania, and makes insightful use of interviews with key members of the dissident movements of the 1970s and 1980s. He offers original observations of countries from the Baltic to the Black Sea and expresses his ideas in a vivid and forceful style. Fantasies of Salvation is an indispensable book for both academic and nonacademic readers who wish to understand the forces shaping one of the world's most important and unpredictable regions.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Princeton University Press
Publication date

June 28, 2009
Dimensions

6.14 x 0.52 x 9.21 inches
ISBN-10

0691144389
ISBN-13

978-0691144382
See all details

Vladimir Tismaneanu
23
Paperback
$29.95
$16.38 shipping
Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).
Vladimir Tismaneanu
6
Hardcover
$69.73
Get it Jan 27 - Feb 13
$30.00 shipping
Usually ships within 12 to 13 days.
Vladimir Tismaneanu
1
Paperback
$21.13
$16.94 shipping
Vladimir Tismaneanu
Hardcover
$120.00
$17.64 shipping
This title has not yet been released.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Vladimir Tismanueanu is a prominent essayist and an expert on contemporary policy. He knows everything about Central and Eastern Europe. . .I warmly recommend this book--it is as controversial as it is inspiring."--Adam Michnik, author of Letters from Prison, editor of Wyborcza (Warsaw)

Review

"Vladimir Tismanueanu is a prominent essayist and an expert on contemporary policy. He knows everything about Central and Eastern Europe. . .I warmly recommend this book―it is as controversial as it is inspiring."―Adam Michnik, author of Letters from Prison, editor of Wyborcza (Warsaw)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press; Edition Unstated (June 28, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691144389
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691144382
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.52 x 9.21 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,406,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,848 in Nationalism (Books)
- #6,790 in Democracy (Books)
- #8,270 in Communism & Socialism (Books)

Customer Reviews:
2 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Vladimir Tismaneanu

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

5 star		50%
4 star 0% (0%)		0%
3 star		50%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Back to the prehistory!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 12, 2007

There are two kinds of analphabets: those who don't know read, and those who don't read.

When the moral disarray of individuals - due the absence of a centered spirit - in times of crisis, multiple changes, exigent challenges, temporal paradigms, perpetual uncertainness and historical fracture, the sociological behavior in most societies seem to follow a same pattern: to search desperately an exit door based on emotional coordinates. This is an extraordinary chance for the false prophets or pretended liberators, illuminated and inspired by supernatural forces to return in order to support those anguishing souls, the coveted serenity and a beacon in the darkness of the ignorance; but when this happens, many people - emulating Faust figure - are capable to renounce the freedom - our most valuable gift - in search of shelter and comfort.

Tismaneau explores with vehement logic, the political psychology of post communist societies and the emerging nations who have grown and grown up overlooking the history.

Kind reader, go for Matrix and search that admirable sequence in which literally appears that devastating statement: "Happiness is ignorance."

There are issues we forget due believe them unthinkable to happen.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Edward Bosnar

Strong integrated analysis of post-socialist politics

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 30, 2000

"Fantasies of Salvation" is a study of political mythologies and ideologies in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Tismaneanu takes an integrative approach, rather than engaging in the generally common practice of considering each country separately - something which is quite commendable, and he does a very good job providing an overview of the overall political climate in this region. Even so, he concentrates most of his analysis to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Romania, while the former Soviet republics and the Balkans are covered less. Generally this book is quite valuable as it covers an area this is not generally dealt with in such a comprehensive manner. Thus, his comparative look at nationalism, anti-communism and the associated political mythologies gives readers an excellent basis for understanding political discourse throughout the region. Tismaneanu correctly points out that mythology is a common aspect of politics anywhere in the world, but his overriding thesis in this work is to show that under the circumstances of rapid transition in the post-socialist countries of Europe, such political mythologies can assume disturbingly paranoid, exclusionary and even violent forms. This is where the term "fantasies of salvation" comes from. Such fantasies are, in the author's words, "an irrational blend but compelling blend" of quasi-religious searches for salvation, egotistic nationalist self-identification and simplified utopian social doctrines. His anaylsis of natonalism in this context is illuminating, and very sobering. He notes that the troubles with economic transition have fanned the flames of xenophobia and racism not only in places like Russia and the Balkans, but even in the more "successful" countries like Hungary or the Czech Republic - although, to be sure, in the latter cases there is less cause for concern than in the former. One can apply the conclusions he draws to other parts of the world as well.
However, the book does have its flaws. One is that Tismaneanu excessively frets over the fate of the former dissidents, like Havel, Konrad or Michnik, who have lost quite a bit of their popularity both in their own countries and abroad. Another (and I believe key) flaw is that while he criticizes many of the political myths or fantasies in the region for, among other things, promoting a simplistic manichean world view, he falls prey to this himself in the sense that he portrays the West, liberalism and the market economy as absolutes which must be attained by all former communist societies. Rarely are the concepts of liberal democracy and capitalism discussed as political myths themselves (regardless of their validity), and Tismaneanu never even entertains the notion that grafting such idealized concepts onto the post-socialist societies may be yet another cause for their often staggering economic and social problems. This really takes away from some of the top-notch analysis in this book, for at times it seems less of a scholarly work than an ideological tract.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Price		$29.95
AmazonGlobal Shipping		$15.81
Estimated Import Fees Deposit		$0.00

Total		$45.76

Shipping & Fee Details

Follow the Author

Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism, and Myth in Post-Communist Europe Paperback – June 28, 2009

Enhance your purchase

Popular titles by this author

Editorial Reviews

Review

Review

From the Back Cover

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Vladimir Tismaneanu

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Buy new: $29.95$29.95 + $19.09 shipping Arrives: Dec 30 - Jan 12 Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Shipping & Fee Details

Buy used: $15.12

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Follow the Author

Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism, and Myth in Post-Communist Europe Paperback – June 28, 2009

Enhance your purchase

Popular titles by this author

Editorial Reviews

Review

Review

From the Back Cover

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Vladimir Tismaneanu

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Buy new:

$29.95

+ $19.09 shipping

Arrives: Dec 30 - Jan 12

Ships from: Amazon.com

Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used:

$15.12