The review is of the book The Golden Maze, A Biography of Prague by Richard Fidler (2020) which analyses the history of Prague and the Czech people for whom it has been capital and cultural centre for over 1000 years. Its history has been turbulent, surrounded by its powerful forces. Despite this, it has survived German occupation during World War II, and then Soviet control until 1989. In 1993, without a referendum, the country of Czechoslovakia was peacefully split between the Czech and the Slovak people. The book makes a positive contribution to understanding this complex process.