The book summarises the author's own research into the history of Central Europe, the Polish-Czech-Ukrainian triangle and the cultural heritage of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. It raises the vital and topical issue of the state myth, the national idea, and nationalism in selected Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus). Although there is much that divides these countries, they also have many things in common. Together, they emerged as independent after the First World War and faced two totalitarianism systems. They have gone on to build a system of liberal democracy, even though the pressure of current problems and the shadow of history gives populism a chance.

Starting from definitions and conceptual issues, the author traces recent history through concrete examples, focuses on the 20th century, and reaches where necessary into the more distant past. He shows how the aspiration to gain or regain independence, the national idea and the myth of the ethnic state, shaped and strengthened the consciousness of the analysed communities. In the final chapters, he presents Ukrainian and Belarusian issues, two routes out of the sphere of Russian influence, albeit one unsuccessful. Ukraine, on the other hand, although bathed in blood by the onslaught of its neighbour to the east, seems to be surviving and strengthening its statehood and, ultimately, building a nation.