Hardcover, 288 pages. Palgrave Macmillan Editors (December 2008). ISBN: 9780230218017. RRP: £50.00.

This book examines the unique dynamics between Orthodoxy and politics in Romania. It provides an accessible narrative on church-state relations in the early Cold War period within a wider timeframe, from the establishment of the state in 1859 to the rise of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1965. In the 1950s Romania began to distance itself from Moscow’s influence, developing its own form of communism. Based on new archival resources, the book argues that Romanian national communism, outside Moscow’s influence, had an ally in a strong Church. It addresses the following questions: How did the Church, which openly opposed communism in the interwar period, survive the atheist regime? How did the regime use religion to its political advantage? What was the Church’s influence on Romanian politics? The book analyses the political interests of the Romanian Orthodox Church and its religious diplomacy with actors in the West, in particular with the Church of England.

Lucian N. Leustean is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Aston University, Birmingham, UK. He holds degrees in international relations, law and theology and completed his doctorate in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Lucian is an alumnus of the Ratiu Foundation.

‘Orthodoxy and the Cold War’ is available to order on www.palgrave.com or Amazon.co.uk