Prague is a European city par excellence, an intellectual center of the Western world whose culture and architecture are a dazzling mix of Czech, German, Hungarian, Italian, French, and Flemish influences, and which has long attracted thinkers and writers from all over. The writers collected here range from the early nineteenth century to the present and include both Prague natives and visitors from other countries. Here are stories, legends, and scenes from the city's past and present, by notable writers ranging from Franz Kafka to Ivan Klíma to Bruce Chatwin, and including the observations of award-winning British playwright Tom Stoppard and former American secretary of state Madeleine Albright, both of whom have Czech roots. Covering the city's Jewish heritage, its travails during World War II, its communist period, the Velvet Revolution, and beyond, Prague Stories weaves a remarkable selection of fiction and nonfiction into a literary portrait of a fascinating city.