RECOMMENDED READING & DVDs

Many books have been written about Prague, by Czechs and foreigners alike, and the Czech Republic has produced many internationally-renowned writers, including its former dissident president, the playwright Vaclav Havel.  The influential Franz Kafka was from here - born not too far from Old Town Square and buried in a Prague cemetery.  
Prague also has a thriving film industry, and many of the current movies and television commercials you see in the U.S. and elsewhere are filmed here.  But you might not be aware that even during the dark days of communism, many Hollywood films were shot in Prague.  "Amadeus," starring Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham, was filmed almost entirely in Prague.  The film's Czech director, Milos Forman, needed to recreate 18th-century Vienna, & in Prague he found a place that required almost no staging, inside & out.  
Viewers with sharp eyes will know that much of Barbara Streisand’s “Yentl” was filmed in the Czech Republic, including a beautiful aerial shot of her horse-drawn carriage traveling across the Charles Bridge.  The medieval fairy-tale town of Česky Krumlov is featured as well.  

Click here for more recommendations that I think you will find interesting to read before your trip or during your travels.  They are all available from Amazon.com and other booksellers.
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This collection of Vaclav Havel's essays includes the influential "The Power of the Powerless."
This is a fascinating account of life under communism by the only American in Prague who lived through it.
Madeleine Albrights' memoir of her childhood in Czechoslovakia also provides valuable insights into Czech history.