Russia. Overture to a crackdown: the aftermath of the 2012 Russian presidential election. Poland. Death in the forest: contemporary Poland and the Katyn massacre. Poland's illiberal challenge: history, state-building and patriotism: a dialogue with Rafal Pankowski. Hungary. The temptations of majority: constitution-making and Hungary's civic opposition. Two dialogues with Agnes Heller: the culture of dictatorship; autocracy and nihilism. The Czech Republic. Havel to the castle: the end and the beginning. Germany. Eternal return: Berlin journal, 1989-2009.

Over the last decade Ellen Hinsey has traveled across Central and Eastern Europe researching a critical shift in the European political landscape: the rise of illiberalism. A quarter of a century after the changes of 1989—and as former Soviet sphere societies come to terms with their histories—the specters of populism, nationalism, extreme-right parties, and authoritarian rule have returned in force. Through a series of eyewitness reports, Mastering the Past offers an insider's view of key political events, including the 2012 Russian elections, the Polish presidential plane crash in Smolensk, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's vision for a new Hungary. Hinsey explores the darkening hour of European politics with an incisive mind and an eye for detail, recording the urgent danger that illiberalism represents for the new century.