First published in 1997, this book has been produced by the leading scholars of the economic history of the region in the belief that the events of 1989/90, and the subsequent turmoil in every country affected, can only be accurately interpreted from an informed historical perspective.

1. Introduction, Alice Teichova. 2. Eastern Europe in Transition: Economic Development During the Interwar and Postwar Period, Alice Teichova. 3. Continuity and Discontinuity in the Economic Development of Czechoslovakia 1918 - 91, Vaclav Prucha. 4. Promise, Failure and Prospects of Economic Nationalism in Poland: The Communist Experiment in Retrospect, Henryk Szlaifer. 5. The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia: An Economic History View, Franjo Stiblar. 6. Transformation and the Legacy of Backwardness: Thoughts form a Romanian Perspective, Daniel Daianu. 7. After the Collapse of East Germany: Social Insecurity and Political Disillusion in the New Lander, Jorg Roesler. 8. From Interwar Stagnation on Postwar Prosperity: Austria's Reconstruction after 1945, Fritz Weber. 9. Property Rights and Debt in East-West European Relations, Michael C. Kaser.