As has always been the case, this journal prides itself on the diversity of the material that we publish. This issue is a fine example. I am particularly delighted that two guest editors from the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca and the Romanian Academy of Sciences, Adriana Stan and Cosmin Borza, have put together a special issue that explores the phenomena of the wave of anti-communist novels that were published across the region only after communism collapsed. As well as bringing together scholars working on Hungary, Poland and Romania they also made the persuasive case that (unusually) contributions on Serbia and Russia should also be included in this journal, to reveal the diversity of approaches that continue to inspire literary critiques of the former communist dictatorships. The resulting collection of articles should be of interest to any scholar exploring the post-1989 period in central and eastern Europe. In addition, this issue also includes two further stand-alone but important articles. The first, by Irina Marin, is an impressively well-sourced examination of Romania’s regrettably under-explored struggle to gain great power recognition in the 1870s. The second, by Robert Pyrah, is a genuinely ground-breaking attempt to assess the role of amateur websites in shaping historical memory in the region, with a particular focus on Germany’s and Poland’s ‘lost’ territories in the east. Thus, each article in this issue brings a fresh perspective that, I am confident, readers will find rewarding.
London, 2024