Historical Dictionary of Latvia

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Located on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, Latvia has had a turbulent past. Its larger neighbors — Russia, Germany, Poland, Sweden — all occupied this area of the Baltic littoral at different times in the past, but it was not until the twentieth century that Latvia emerged as an independent country. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Latvia, together with the other two Baltic states, Estonia and Lithuania, regained independence that they had already had between the two World Wars. Plakans' intention here is to offer a stepping stone towards the eventual creation of a work presenting the "significant core" of Latvian history in English. "The Historical Dictionary of Latvia" takes a detailed look at the recent political and economic situation of Latvia as well as its long and sometimes complicated history. There are also entries on the artists, writers, scientists, and other personalities who made their contribution to the culture of the state. The "Dictionary" is further expanded by the inclusion of a map, listings of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, and a bibliography.

Author Biography: Born in Riga, Latvia in 1940, Andrejs Plakans is Professor of History at Iowa State University. He has taught at several notable universities, including Boston College, the University of California-Riverside, University of Pittsburgh and the University of Latvia in Riga. A past president of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, he has served on committees of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the American Historical Association, and the Social Science History Association. He has been a Foreign Member of the Academy ofScience of Latvia since 1990, and was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, International Center for Scholars in 1992. He is the author of several books relating to Latvian history.

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