i'm not laughing at well because sometimes i am placed on nothing with the camera and think deep into german culture. you don't seem to take that as grandma yeah she thought it's all about who you know i'm rachel join me for me to get funky golf course. welcome to arts twenty one today we check out the life sequel. it's. the event is held every spring it is really popular with the reading public because i would simply takes a lot of walking around to see and do everything but it's all really interesting but. celebrated writers lots of new releases and great literature from a mid-sized country the czech republic is the twenty one thousand lifes and book

fairs country of honor just good luck i think it's great that people can discover all kinds of books here but they may not be familiar with that story so let's get lost in good books but first a brief review of the state of publishing. no signs of gloom and doom of the lipstick book for despite the fact that a major german book wholesaler recently the clear bankruptcy turned over stagnant but this time the book firm's bigger and more international than ever. channel is making its debut here with publishers from across the country and they've brought along books in a wide variety of genres. the

first time here i am so i think i'd like to think it's open to public so if it's interesting to get to me that there are readers i think it's also the place where. their new book are really every year so it's good to be there and to feel the trend . readers can meet their favorite authors and then like in frankfurt stock up on books. this publishers trying to attract young readers with a selfie competition. the more serious note this year's book fair focuses on south eastern europe and the erosion of democracy and freedom of speech . germany's federal agency for civic education is sponsoring a series of discussions and book reading thirty years of change and young people there and now. i think you can mention do you not know what's happening with young people the ones who were born after nine hundred eighty nine who have no historical

reference points except perhaps through their parents' generation are they rebellious how are they dealing with responsibility. what are they thinking and feeling and what does europe mean to them and to bust the budget is the only hope but. many of the new books at the fair deal with political and historical events and focus on contemporary issues the event offers a number of discussions with authors and experts. on the hot topic is the future of the book publishing industry itself. facing stiff competition from e-books books in demand and self published money scripts there's been a prize for the best self published book since two thousand and seventeen last year monica from our won the prize for story. nobody wanted to publish it but now it's proving popular for our says self publishing offers a number of advantages. to mrs island china's aspect that one major factor is the wide variety of topics that you can find in these kinds of books and that includes all sorts of marginal subject. that are just as important but don't appeal to the

mainstream publishers i mean people that i've hired someone for example in my book i addressed the issue of sexual harassment. in my book it's only been a single moment that i think it's extremely important to have a platform to initiate discussion doesn't it just because you want. to lots of fair shows that books and readers do still exist a recent study indicates that fewer people are buying books these days but those who do buy more of them. one of the stars of this year's event is the outspoken russian american journalist and activist mushing gessen she has been awarded the twenty nine thousand leipsic book fair award for european understanding. these days people are lining up to interview matia gessen the author of the award winning work the future is history

totalitarianism reclaimed russia. it makes a provocative claim. russia's future is shaped by its past and you might say that about any country but what i mean specifically about russia is that. the seventy four years of to tell a turn isn't shaped in entirely different society than what we have seen elsewhere in the world russia has not told any story about its history and specifically the history of stalinist terror. stalin ruled the soviet union with an iron fist until nine hundred fifty three but even today the dictator is celebrated as the one who helped defeat hitler stalin dreamed of a mighty empire but millions of russians lost their lives as a result something that often goes unmentioned. and says very hard to tell a story about it but. without a story

a society is unable to move forward so the future is history both in the sense that it's determined by history and that it's. it's a history that has been told and also in english the future is history also means the future is gone. russia presents itself as a modern country to the outside world yet the nation is deeply divided for her book mushy guess who conducted interviews with russian men and women who were born in the one nine hundred eighty s. and lived with an inner turmoil to this day. i wanted to look at that generation i wanted to look at people who grew up in the ninety's because i think it's a very specific condition that hasn't been described that the condition of being a child and in stream the unstable society they need to remember the collapse of the city and when they were just seven years old they needed to be from different backgrounds from different cities but also different class backgrounds with

a different relationship to power i want to use them in the sense as a vehicle to understanding some of the politics both of the perestroika and of the ninety's i. guess since family immigrated to the u.s. from the soviet union in the one nine hundred eighty s. jewish intellectuals who saw no future there musher was fourteen at the time ten years later she returned to moscow to work as a journalist. and the first time i went back to the soviet union was in march one thousand nine hundred one. when there were demonstrations in the streets of this giant inspiration about three hundred thousand people people were talking. all the important things there was actually politics happening people were talking about what the relationship between the individual and the state should be people were talking about how the government and society should be constituted.

and era of huge change the soviet union was coming to an end russia was about to embark on a new era with new leadership. for journalists and i think a person there's nothing more exciting than being able to witness that up close so i you know i was i was i was so drawn to that that i just wanted to stay and keep writing that story and for most of the ninety's i did for most of the ninety's i felt that every story i wrote was a new story no one had written before i mean that's that's an amazing thing for a journalist to experience. then after a tumultuous decade president yeltsin presented x. k.g.b. officer vladimir putin as the country's new prime minister he vowed to return russia to its former greatness critics were silenced in two thousand and eleven when thousands protested against an allegedly rigged parliamentary election mushy guess who was out on the front lines and had to leave russia as

a result i think it was my participation in the protests. and my being very out as a queer person i had been publicly out for many many years and and it had never been a problem until the kremlin launched its anti-gay campaign in two thousand and twelve . then i suddenly became a problem and the reason i had to leave was because my family was directly threatened. with the removal of my oldest son who's adopted from the family in two thousand and thirteen guests and her partner and their three children relocated to new york since then she has spoken out publicly about the team's hunger for power and the irony of history that the us is now governed by a president who sees himself as a friend of putin however i mean there is no comparison right supposed to tell a country and the united states is is a weak and dysfunctional democracy those are vastly different systems.

i guess in this book focuses on russia under putin. it pulls no punches and now it is one of the twenty nine thousand lights the book fair award for european understand. twenty nine thousand is the year of big anniversaries many are being celebrated in new books we turn the spotlight on three of our favorites. encounters with wild animals and exciting climbs up the sides of volcanoes it's all in a new illustrated accountant alexander from home bold south american expedition. and revolvers bookmarks the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of germany's famous geographer and naturalist and explorer. the book was inspired by homeworld plant

samples sketches and newly released passages from his daily journal. it was an amazing journey full of adventures and new discoveries involves descriptions of his encounters with indigenous peoples are both vivid. and moving. home vote describe the impact humans were already having on the environment and condemned slavery in cuba. lilian measure provided the rich and detailed illustrations for false new book. the iconic painting mona lisa remains a mystery to this day the artist leonardo da vinci died in fifteen nineteen. and has written a new biography of davinci describing him as a universal genius and an early supporter of women's emancipation. fallon

says davinci portrayed women who were intelligent and strong willed. for example ginevra dementia a fifteenth century intellectual. or this painting lebed a federal year often called portrait of an unknown woman both proud and self-confident . book portrays a uniquely talented artist who broke with tradition and developed new perspectives on women thought and the world in general. and. here. we are. on july twentieth one thousand nine hundred sixty nine astronauts landed on the moon for the first time. and it was a worldwide media sensation. to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the event

a new book on the history of nasa the u.s. space agency has hit the shelves it's called the nasa archives sixty years in space written by a british science journalist and space historian piers because only. it includes hundreds of photographs and rare documents from nasa is archives. the lavishly illustrated volume outlines the key role the u.s. space program plays in space technology you. know nasa plans to send astronauts to mars perhaps as early as twenty thirty three . the next archives sixty years in space is a breathtaking trip through time and space.

this year's country of honor is the czech republic and the czechs have brought a lot of fine work along with them we talked to four featured writers before the big event. a majestic castle narrow alleyways numerous domes and towers and impressive bridges spanning the poltava. prague is a dream with a millennium of history a city on the move in central europe. the true steps of the communist era is history now prague is a popular destination for tourists from across the globe. to raise a small time move our lives here the writer observes the hustle and bustle and the czech capital from an amused distance. yes though it is full and always first go to could have a. visit that could have been a. host but as obama. is lucky.

yeah city broke that he didn't. get. to raise or some automobile earns her living as a translator for her first night. well as the story of a young woman who's tried and failed to fit in once too often. hurt and disappointed she makes the radical decision to move into an old cupboard left in the courtyard. she come to buy. by doris she could live with other people with her sister her girlfriend her family and. a very good dog on me but she doesn't want to be there and deal with other people. because she needs to deal with herself like i think is . the same time she's somehow incapable of taking action and can't afford

her own apartment so that coverage gives her a bit of freedom in this provisional situation by height india is auditions it throughout so. she feels lost in a way which could perhaps only happen in the success driven consumer oriented western world it's a story that's as honest as it is absurd. the one constant in the young protagonists life is a friendly vietnamese and he lets her use the washroom in his shop and gives her a smile and something to eat. this is more than a mere detail it's a nod to multiculturalism at a time when czech politicians often disparage the country's mutinies minority. is the czech republic senior phobic. in twenty fifteen at the height of europe's refugee crisis the country accepted under two hundred people from i may give up soon is either for my generation it's extremely painful to hear that the czech

republic refused to accept refugees. i didn't refuse to the government refused to i myself helped refugees the fixing him got hold of me when i drove to hungary and took a good look at the situation. and i formed my own opinion. that's who. she says of course people in the czech republic appreciate the material freedoms the opportunities to travel that they have now but she says many people's mindsets are slower to change some feel insecure and don't know how to handle freedom. does that worry her not in the least. a fin to be mentioned. i think people can see for themselves if they've elected the wrong politician. the elan the title as time goes on they notice ok maybe that wasn't so great. and that's progress mind sometimes you have to try things out before you realize that's

a bad apple i won't use one of those again so they call from. prague castle is the city's landmark and houses the office of the czech president. the current president milosevic months pro china and probably russia's stance has divided the country. in the ukraine conflict he sided with russia and in two thousand and fifteen he called the wave of refugees flooding into europe and organized invasion. yochim copeland was shocked when simon was elected president he'd always fought for a truly free country both before ninety nine and after as a writer journalist and since twenty eleven as program director of the pov a library. book says that the kid history is like a huge pendulum with its one as high to one side as possible now it's right at the bottom but i hope we'll reach the other side again this is. what's left was czechoslovakia's last president and the first president of the czech republic after

slovakia seceded in one thousand nine hundred three a former dissident hovel was also a celebrated writer and the moral authority. he personally brought yosh i'm told will to the box la cava library shortly before his death twenty eleven. kopel stayed on and continues to cure rate the library's cultural program and hobble would have wanted. and he's kept on writing unusual novels but his latest a sensitive person starts out as a road movie about a family of artists but soon turns into a commentary on modern european society pressure not a good local maybe i'm too if i don't know this strange family is led by a father who's around my age alone i'm off so be it is too big he still has this desire to discover western europe the soviet. anything but his europe this mental image that he has no longer exists for his million old wooden simple tools and instead he encounters an unfriendly europe full of social tension plagued by crises

and with accords of migrants walking around you that will teach him a little who are cool i am no one of those oh. so he returns to his homeland with all of its awful scrap yards and bars it might not be the prettiest but at least it's good for the novel on top of the state award for literature in twenty seventeen ad much public criticism. progress booming and now is among the ten richest regions in europe the days when people here fought for socialism with a human face are long gone. it's easier to imagine franz kafka walking through the city's alleyways at the start of the twentieth century back then prague was a magnet for artists and authors writing in check and german as the city was still a part of the hapsburg empire. i see this and others yes everything's also nice looking so picturesque in the home

but underneath the surface there are a few graves a few bodies lying buried on top of one another in the end we have to live with these corpses these ghosts of the past and the hilly. you never saw through dish studied. history and says to do that you need to know german otherwise he'd never have been able to conduct the research for his novel into bags of that stuff or vinterberg last journey it's a comical tribute to train travel central europe and life in general and rudisha wrote it in german. a month's issue. when you look at the map of the railway routes in austria hungary in one nine hundred thirteen and compare it with a map of the routes in central europe today you can see how many are left hotels for heart disease i'm told that's all of these routes this station where we are now and they all existed back then as in this caption da masala skinny together with his melancholy geriatric nurse john kraus ninety nine year old once

a winter very embarks on a journey into the past and taking his cue from a detailed guidebook dating from one thousand thirteen she's drawn ever deeper into the country's history and his own. doubts stalks into some little nuance and a lot of afzal assumes that i went again to czechoslovakia and stopped on stuart's also some bloke months and one of his sister was the only a scholar storks also some book once unknown looked up in fields and was the commonest and common. known someone of afghans expedition the soviets caught outside the form which the leader stands for towards the slice of. winter burg meanders through the course of history bringing the past to life in spite of these often sad events it's a sheer delight to be along for the ride. in

bernard a three hour train trip from prague people have been also reconciling the past helped along by cut the sheen that pushed all of us a book the expulsion of. the also need to subscribe to the dixie cup for capital stuff. get them just coming up we call it it's going to go. live on ohio. could be a bully. it's not nice and what develops in ash from a walk which. in supposedly scorched earth it is now a just just a support beard i see days to fluxion not just the globe and you never did. burn it was the second largest city in the czech republic in one thousand ten it had one hundred twenty thousand residents eighty thousand spoke german as their mother tongue the rest were chaps they lived peacefully with one another until the nazis marched in. around eleven thousand jews from burnell fall victim to the nazis

and countless opponents of hitler's regime were tortured and executed. when i moved to them my first fled then i every morning or every day passed around the sign which is on the old four saab marisha glass and to go in the street and because i didn't know i think about the. german presence in my city i started to be interested in this steel industry and what happened the other germans are better and more. began researching and soon discovered that this was a taboo subject in one nine hundred forty five almost three million people most of the german population were driven out of the then czechoslovakia in bernal their expulsion was particularly violent during a death march as many as five thousand people lost their lives women children. and

the elderly cutter she spoke with a few of the survivors thanks to them i saw the history of history from absolutely different perspective and that's why i also found out that the during our education and i mean education of all children. there was some. and. i had story right the boat. the expulsion of. is a moving novel the chock full of facts it's received a lot of attention in the czech media burnell it's been finding ways to remember the victims of the death march since one thousand nine hundred five and twenty fifteen the city issued a public apology. novel as uncomfortable read but like so many new books from the czech republic it's well worth the effort.

that's all from art's twenty one this time so until we meet again why not curl up with a good book and until then i'll theaters in from life's it. closely .

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. this is deja news a line from berlin thailand waits for results in its first elections since a twenty four thousand military takeover millions are cast ballots in a contest pitting the military backed party against allies of the country's populist old guard but there are fears the military has already stacked the political deck in its favor life in bangkok.