Left: “Milan Kundera, Prague, 1969,” by Gisèle Freund © The artist. IMEC/Fonds MCC/Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, New York City. Courtesy Galerie Franz Swetec, Düsseldorf. Right: “Rising of Rudé právo,” by Pavel Baňka © The artist. Courtesy Cermak Eisenkraft Gallery, Prague

Revision is the act of reworking something—an idea, a text—in an effort to improve it. It means to look again; in some instances, it may be the surrounding world that has altered. A Kidnapped West: The Tragedy of Central Europe (Harper, $24.99) is comprised of two historical texts by Milan Kundera, with contextual introductions by two distinguished…