Mark Baker

Plus a direct appeal to 'INA'

‘Čas proměn’ Two Years On

Two years ago this month, on July 26, 2021, my book, “Čas proměn” (“Time of Changes”), arrived in bookstores across the Czech Republic and Slovakia. That moment capped a year and a half of furiously collecting notes and photos, reading old letters and diaries, hitting up old friends for their recollections, and, finally, organizing and writing the chapters and working with my editor at Albatros Media to ensure the final Czech edition was faithful to my English draft. The commercial life of a book in the Czech Republic is only about 18 months, and sales of my book – and sightings on bookstore shelves – have slowed considerably. Still, there have been some major developments over the past year that I would like to share here (and read through to the end for a crazy update).

Report from the river in June-July 2023

Coming Soon: 'Operation INTER’

About the author

I’m an independent journalist, travel writer and author who’s lived in Central Europe for nearly three decades. I love the history, literature, culture and mystery of this often-overlooked corner of Europe, and I make my living writing articles and guidebooks about the region. Much of what I write eventually finds its way into commercial print or digital outlets, but a lot of it does not.

And that’s my aim with this website: to find a space for stories and experiences that fall outside the publishing mainstream.

My Book: ‘Čas Proměn’

In 2021, I published “Čas Proměn” (“Time of Changes”), my first book of historical nonfiction. The book, written in Czech, is a collection of stories about Central and Eastern Europe in the 1980s and early ‘90s, including memories of the thrilling anti-communist revolutions of 1989. The idea for the book and many of the tales I tell there were directly inspired by this blog. Czech readers, find a link to purchase the book here. I hope you enjoy.

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