Culture and history in Eastern Europe provides a refreshingly different approach toward understanding recent and current events in one of the world's most complex and fascinating regions. Dr. Hupchick presents substantive arguments for the importance of culture in its most essential form - a particular group of people's basic perception of reality - as the continuous driving force underlying human actions. It is the interplay among various cultures over time that form the determining factors that shape human development. With great clarity and precision, Dr. Hupchick describes the cultural complexities of Eastern Europe and Russia, giving the reader many insights into how the region's inhabitants themselves perceive their rich yet terrible histories. This is a book which will be as stimulating to specialists as it will be enlightening to students.