AAU-Supported “Living Torches” Praised in the Times Literary Supplement

Petr Blažek’s landmark monograph, Living Torches in the Soviet Bloc: Politically Motivated Cases of Self-Immolation in 1966–1989, has received a favorable review in the internationally respected Times Literary Supplement. AAU supported the English edition and was a partner in the Ukrainian publication, helping make this important historical research accessible to wider audiences.

Published in English by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (ÚSTR) in cooperation with Karolinum Press, the book examines politically motivated cases of self-immolation across the Soviet bloc between 1966 and 1989. Alongside a broader study of the phenomenon, it presents 21 individual stories of people whose actions were motivated, at least in part, by political protest.

The review, written by political scientist Kieran Williams, praises the book’s precision, extensive research, and sensitive treatment of a complex subject. Blažek also publicly thanked AAU President Jiří Schwarz for supporting the English edition, translated by Cóilín O’Connor. The Ukrainian edition, translated by historian Radomyr Mokryk and published by Duch i Litera in 2025, was produced with AAU as a project partner.

In February 2026, President Schwarz travelled to Ukraine and joined Blažek, Mokryk, and representatives of ÚSTR for a presentation of the Ukrainian edition at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and the Ukrainian Catholic University.

First published in Czech in 2019, Living Torches in the Soviet Bloc has since appeared in Romanian, Ukrainian, and English. Its recognition by the Times Literary Supplement marks an important international milestone and underlines the continuing relevance of research into resistance, freedom, and the legacy of totalitarian regimes.

Read more from the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (in Czech) here, and
read the review in the Times Literary Supplement here.

Photo credit: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů