Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- The Czech Journey to the Academic Study of Religions: From the Critique of Religion to its Study / Tomáš Bubík -- Searching and Finding: A History of the Slovak Study of Religion / David Václavík -- The Development of Religious Studies in Poland: History and the Present State / Henryk Hoffmann -- The History and Recent Trends of Religionswissenschaft in Hungary / András Máté-Tóth and Csaba Máté Sarnyai -- Estonian Study of Religion: A Historical Outline of the 20th Century Developments / Ülo Valk and Tarmo Kulmar -- Development of the Study of Religion in Latvia in the 20th Century / Jānis Priede -- The History of the Scientific Study of Religion and Current State of Religious Studies in Ukraine / Liudmyla Fylypovych and Yuriy Babinov -- The Outline of Religious Studies in Russia: Did Soviet Religious Studies Really Exist? / Ekaterina Elbakyan -- Index.

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Studying Religions with the Iron Curtain Closed and Open. The Academic Study of Religion in Eastern Europe offers an account of the research focused on the origins, development and the current situation of the Study of Religions in the 20th century in countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, and Russia. Special attention is devoted to the ideological influences determining the interpretation of religion, especially connected with the rise of Marxist-Leninist criticism of religion.