<DIV>Following the defeat of Imperial Germany in World War I, the Great Powers created a new Czechoslovak state from the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The redrawing of Europe's territorial boundaries which was part of the Treaty of Versailles, pushed through by Britain's Lloyd George and France's Clemenceau, overrode the objections of the 2 million Germans in the Sudetenland, placed by this treaty in Czech territory, and those of the Slovaks who had hoped for independence. Here, Patrick Crowhurst identifies the crucial political problem that faced Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1939 – the rift between the Czechs and the Sudeten Germans that would open the way for the rise of Konrad Henlein's right-wing 'Sudeten Deutsch' party, and which was exploited ruthlessly by Hitler during Nazi Germany's 1938 annexation of Czechoslovakia. <I>A History of Czechoslovakia Between the Wars</I> deepens our understanding of a fragile Europe before World War II, and is essential for students and scholars of 20th century history.</div>