— Literary Weekly / Literárny Týždenník —

Hybrid Global Publishing in New York, in cooperation with Global Slovakia, launched the novel Milan Rastislav Štefánik: A Man of Iron Will written by the Slovak author Jozef Banáš and translated by James Sutherland-Smith. The U.S. edition of the story of the greatest figure in Slovak history contains a foreword written by Slovaks Miroslav Musil and Paul Kanis and Americans Kevin J. McNamara and Dr. Michael J. Kopanica, Jr. “I assume this is the first time a Slovak novel has been published in the USA and I consider this fact to be great news for Slovak literature. I am delighted and honored, I want to thank all the great people in the United States who have helped to achieve this success,” Jozef Banáš says. Further he points out that it is a great honor to have a book released in the USA with forewords written by Kevin J. McNamara from Philadelphia, a political scientist and a leading expert in Czecho-Slovak history, and Dr. Michael J. Kopanic, Jr., Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Less than a month after its release in the USA, Moscow’s publishing house Mass Information Communications (MIC) launched Jozef´s novel on the Russian market. The director of the publishing house, Jelena Paršková, expressed her delight that the novel was published in the same year as Slovakia commemorates the 140th anniversary of its national hero. The translation was taken care of by Alla Mašková, former Professor at the Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Anna Pešková. The novel about M. R. Štefánik is the second novel by Jozef Banáš published by MIC – right after the most translated Slovak novel The Jubilation Zone. Milan Rastislav Štefánik: A Man of Iron Will is Jozef´s 21st book released on international book markets. Jozef Banáš added: “I am happy and proud to contribute a little to the popularization of both, Milan Rastislav Štefánik and Slovakia, abroad. Having a novel about the most important Slovak personality on a challenging Russian market is an honor for me. The book has already been published in the Czech Republic and will be in Serbia by the end of the year. I am also delighted by MIC´s preliminary interest in my latest novel Beautiful Death in Altai.” The historical documentary novel Milan Rastislav Štefánik: A Man of Iron Will is on the list of recommended literature for schools in Slovakia, it has won three literary and two commercial prizes.