Handbuch der Geschichte der Böhmischen Länder. Vol. 1. Die Böhmischen Länder von derarchaischen Zeit bis zum Ausgang der Hussitischen Revolution by Karl BoslReview by: Z. R. DittrichThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 47, No. 108 (Jan., 1969), pp. 260-262Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4206066 .

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260 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

particulars of the novel than had previous ones, the reader may feel that

Belyy has been short-changed as a creative artist. Although Honig assures his reader that Belyy was not guilty of mere formalism in his use of sound and image, the present study is very likely to leave precisely that

impression. To date, the information contained in the lengthy article on Bely in

Literaturnoye nasledstvo, vols 27/28, constitutes the most complete biblio?

graphy of primary sources that has been published. Its major defects are its unwieldiness for reference purposes and the omission of a number of critical articles and book reviews which Belyy published separately in

periodicals. It is difficult to understand why Honig did not systematically exploit this source in the compilation of what he intended to be 'the most

complete Belyy bibliography possible'. While Honig does cite this source

among his secondary works, his own listing omits many of the entries to be found there. Nor does Honig appear to have surveyed the periodicals which would have provided a number of additional articles which Belyy wrote. Even in the case of Vesy, the list is both incomplete and inaccurate. Under the year 1905, for example, three of the eleven citations are erroneous. In addition, one article from issue IX/X is omitted, as are book reviews appearing in other issues. This portion of the bibliography is further impaired by the disregard of numerous book reviews which Belyy contributed to Vesy under a variety of pseudonyms.

The list of secondary sources includes both articles basic to Belyy criticism and those which mention him only briefly. Among the more

noteworthy omissions are the personal reminiscences published by Zinaida Gippius in ZJiivyye lits a and those of Boris Zaytsev in the journal Russkiye zapiski. A number of more specialised but equally important discussions are also omitted. Johannes Holthusen's comparative commen?

tary on Sologub and Belyy as apocalyptic visionaries in Fedor Sologubs Roman- Trilogie, the assessment of Belyy's contribution to the myth of St

Petersburg in Ettore Lo Gatto's II mito di Pietroburgo and N. P. Antsiferov's Dusha Peterburga, B. A. Druzhkinaya's 'Andrey Belyy?pushkinist', and Nils Ake Nilsson's Ibsen in Russland should have been mentioned.

This book must be regarded as a very pedestrian treatment of a

potentially fascinating subject. While Honig's work will have a certain reference value for persons interested in Belyy's fictional technique, it does little to enhance general appreciation of one of the Symbolist movement's most talented writers of prose.

Helsinki Pierre R. Hart

Bosl, Karl, (ed.) Handbuch der Geschichte der Bohmischen Lander. Vol. i. Die Bohmischen Lander von der archaischen Zeit bis zum Ausgang der Hussitischen Revolution. Verlag A. Hiersemann, Stuttgart, 1967. xxiv-f 637 pages. Maps. Notes. Indices.

Under the auspices of the Collegium Carolinum, a research centre for

expatriate Sudeten-German historical scholars in Munich, the first part of an ambitious project?the plan to publish a detailed textbook in three

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REVIEWS 26l

volumes of Bohemian/Czechoslovakian history from prehistoric times

up to the present day?has been realised. The first volume, published recently under the editorial leadership of Professor Bosl, consists of three sizeable contributions by Professor Mildenberger (prehistory), Dr Rich? ter (early Middle Ages, up to 1306), and Dr Seibt (later Middle Ages up to 1471).

Let me begin by saying that this work, as far as one can judge from the first volume, is a unique and in every way admirable historiographical presentation which is certain to gain international recognition. Since the older textbooks of Bohemian/Czechoslovakian history are hopelessly out? dated by research developments since their publication and are thus

practically useless for teaching purposes, the need for an up-to-date, manageable, and reliable textbook in this field has been acutely felt in the western world. The existing Czechoslovakian publications Pfehled

Ceskoslovenskych dejin and the Geschichte der Tschechoslowakei of V. Husa are

typical examples of sterile, dogmatic-schematic and therefore pseudo- Marxist historiography.

It is most encouraging to discover that the authors have been able to avoid the ideological and nationalistic aberrations which, from the German as well as from the Czechoslovakian side, have stood in the way of a better understanding of their largely common past. Instead of the 'look back in anger' which has characterised so many post-war German

language works, one notices here a conscious effort to approach the material from an objective and supra-national standpoint. Not only are their own traditional interpretations and nationalistic polemics? warp and woof of the older historiography?criticised where necessary, but their systematic and appreciative utilisation of the results of Czecho? slovakian archeological and historical research is of great help in revising the outdated historical picture. In contrast with earlier works, such as those of Bretholz, Pekaf and Krofta, which concentrated on political and dynastic history, the Handbuch der Geschichte der Bohmischen Lander is a modern synthetic presentation which gives a great deal of attention to the social, economic and cultural aspects of the historical process. Copious notes and an ample bibliography for every chapter increase the usefulness of this volume, which also has a thorough index and many chronological tables.

A few critical remarks must be made, however. It is regrettable that the contributions of Professor Mildenberger and Dr Richter overlap each other on the early Middle Ages up to and including the tenth cen?

tury. Even though the problems of this period are approached differently by the archeologist and the historian, an overlap of this sort remains an irritation which might have been avoided. Further, in their attempt to achieve an objective and non-polemical exposition the authors have

occasionally gone too far by treating some much-disputed points?such as the arrival of the Slavs, the relations of Bohemia to the German Empire, the German colonisation?too briefly and cautiously. It is not justifiable to omit almost any discussion of the complicated problems of and around the Christian legend on pp. 166 and 253, while the notorious manuscripts

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262 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

of Koniginhof and Grunberg, which had influenced the older Czecho? slovakian historiography to a critical degree, are not even mentioned! It is also to be regretted that the contributors to this first volume have used almost exclusively German and Czechoslovakian publications, thereby omitting from their bibliographies a number of important works in English, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, arid other languages. Finally, one wonders why, while the section on prehistory includes a reasonable number of outline maps, no use is made of this excellent aid and orienta? tion method in the later sections.

Nevertheless, this textbook is the best that we have in the field of

Bohemian/Czechoslovakian history at the moment. We have high hopes of the forthcoming volumes.

Utrecht Z. R. Dittrigh

Kaminsky, Howard. A History of the Hussite Revolution. University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1967. xv+ 580 pp. Plates.

Maps. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.

Those already familiar with Professor Kaminsky's writings on the Hussite period will turn with keen interest to this large-scale history of the Hussite revolution. His theme is that the Hussite movement was 'both a reformation and a revolution, in fact the revolution of the late Middle Ages, the history of which period cannot be properly understood if the Hussites are left out'. Professor Kaminsky sees Hussitism 'as begin? ning with a movement for reform, which became a revolt; both then became wider and deeper, the reform passing into reformation, the revolt into revolution'. These were two aspects of a single process beginning in

1414, or perhaps 1412, and ending about 1424 by which time Tabori-

tism, in which both the reforming and the revolutionary tendencies found their fullest expression, had been evolved. The Taborite towns were new

socio-political formations following their own norms and in secession from the established order?'schismatic with respect to the rest of the

world'; they were, in fact, a revolution.

Avoiding a strictly chronological treatment, Professor Kaminsky carries out an expert analysis of the Hussite movement, its leaders, par? ties and dominant ideas. The result is a profound and valuable study closely related to the recent writings of other scholars and in harmony to some extent with the views of Macek and Kalivoda. Not surprisingly, four out of the ten chapters are devoted to the Taborites. The value of the fascinating perspective to which the author introduces us is well demonstrated by his assessment of Hus. He considers that the true figure of the historical Hus has not yet emerged from the work of modern scholars. While he acknowledges the importance of the doctrinal analysis performed by De Vooght, he argues that the latter has shown us merely why Hus should not have been burnt: we still need to know why he was. On this problem Professor Kaminsky is able to throw some light. First of all, Hus was responsible for promoting Wyclif's doctrines within the reform movement, although he himself remained largely orthodox; others,

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