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Mark Lawson examines how mystery novels reflect a country's history and political system.

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Foreign Bodies: Series 1: Czechoslovakia - Lieutenant Boruvka

Czechoslovakia - Lieutenant Boruvka

Series 1

BBC Radio 4 - Foreign Bodies, Series 1, Czechoslovakia - Lieutenant Boruvka

Mark Lawson explores Czech history in the crime fiction of Josef Skvorecky.

Mark Lawson discovers why crime writer Josef Skvorecky was obliged to refer obliquely to the Czech political situation of 1966.

When Josef Skvorecky published the Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka in 1966 he had to refer obliquely to the Czech political situation but following the Prague spring he emigrated to Canada and his writing became more explicit. 

Mark Lawson discusses his writing with translator and former member of the Plastic People of the Universe, Paul Wilson, who argues that the country was a crimescape and that Skvorecký's interest in the crime genre went beyond his Boruvka series. 

Producer: Robyn Read

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

Foreign Bodies: Series 1

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Mark Lawson presents a history of modern Europe through literary detectives

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Czechoslovakia - Lieutenant Boruvka

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