Slovak nationalist sentiment has been a constant presence in the history of Czechoslovakia, and the torrent of nationalism which resulted in the dissolution of the Republic on January 1, 1993, is only its most recent expression. In this book, James Felak examines a parallel episode, in the 1930s, when Slovak nationalists achieved autonomy for Slovakia, soon followed by independence - but "at the price" of the loss of East Central Europe's only parliamentary democracy and the strengthening of Nazi power in the heart of Europe.