In this much-needed chronicle of a fascinating people, Hugh Agnew offers the first up-to-date single-volume history of the Czechs, providing an introduction to the major themes and contours of Czech history for the general reader. Agnew presents the most detailed chronology of the region currently available, from prehistory and the first Slavs to the Czech Republic's entrance into the European Union. Taking into account both Western and Marxist insights—as well as the input of the newest generation of Czech historians—he furnishes a comprehensive fusion of three different focuses on Czech history: a political-diplomatic view, a social-economic view, and a cultural-intellectual view.