Book Launch—Aftershock: A Journey into Eastern Europe’s Broken Dreams

In Aftershock, journalist John Feffer returns to Eastern Europe a quarter of a century after the fall of communism. There, he tracks down hundreds of people he had interviewed for his earlier book, Shock Waves, decades before as the Iron Curtain fell. From politicians and scholars to trade unionists and grassroots activists, Feffer now finds a common story of optimism dashed.

Feffer observes that years of free-market reforms have failed to deliver prosperity, while corruption and organized crime are rampant, and optimism has given way to bitterness and a newly invigorated nationalism. Yet, through in-depth interviews with the region’s many extraordinary activists, Feffer shows that despite these stiff odds, hope for the region’s future remains alive in many.

Please join the Open Society Foundations in exploring this timely and important book.