Encyclopedia of Czechoslovak Legions

This book follows on from the successful book “History of the Czechoslovak Legions in Dates”. That previous work was driven by an effort to suppress the selective conception of legionary history, a conception which has not disappeared to this day and which receives support from state institutions. Some events, while marginal from the perspective of the entire history of the legions, are nevertheless subject to intense promotional support. In contrast, fundamental military actions, primarily connected with combat operations on the Trans-Siberian Railway in the summer and autumn of 1918, remain outside the interest of official authorities. This publication therefore builds on its predecessor and seeks, now in encyclopaedic form, to cover everything important related to the existence of the legionary units.

More than a thousand entries are primarily focused on the legionary units, from the level of an independent company upwards, on their deployment locations, on the command corps, and on the manner of their transportation back to their homeland. The entries have a standard format and cross-reference each other. The text is supplemented by several hundred period photographs and two dozen maps. Similar to the preceding publication, this one aims to orient the reader in the very complex and dynamic period of one of the not-insignificant elements of our national history.