The history of a country goes a long way to shaping its topography and the culture of the people who live there. Lying at the heart of the European land mass, the Czech Republic or Czechoslovakia, as it was called until comparatively recently, has a rich and ancient heritage to share with all who visit or live there. We hope the following pages will go some way to describing the history of this wonderful land and explaining the people you will meet during a visit to this intriguing country.