"The former Soviet-bloc countries that have done the most to encourage a thorough reckoning with the crimes of the past have enjoyed greater stability than the countries that have avoided any reappraisal of the past or that have embarked on the process selectively or halfheartedly. Deep and lasting democratization has made the most headway when the iniquities of the recent past have been exposed to public light and when leaders of these countries have unequivocally denounced the individuals who were complicit in overseeing systematic cruelty and terror."--Back cover.