The title of Lenka Krátkáʼs book can be translated into English as “Ups and Downs: A Survey of the History of Czechoslovak Airlines, 1923–1993.” Covering seven decades from the founding of the Czechoslovak State Airline (Československé státní aerolinie, or ČSA) until the breakup of the Czechoslovak state, the book is the first systematic work on the history of the airline. The text runs for more than 440 pages, with an additional twenty pages of tabular appendices and another fifteen pages of bibliography. The book also contains a wealth of illustrative material consisting mainly of pictures, maps, and organizational charts, along with a four-page summary in English at the end.
Krátká emphasizes that her book is not intended “to provide a comprehensive view”; rather, she wants “to offer a broad framework for further research into the various aspects of the history of both the airlines themselves and Czechoslovak civil aviation transport...