Unlike most significant histories of Latvia to date (with Bilmanis' seminal work of 1951 being arguably the most important in English), this one is written by a professional historian - and it shows. In addition, the end of the Cold War has facilitated a dispassionate yet well informed account of Latvia's history, so far totally unavailable to my knowledge. Prof. Plakans' insights have helped me to clarify, in my mind, things which did not quite make sense up until now.
I am the son of emigre Latvians, and for me the period 1918-1940 has always been of paramount importance. Latvia's history outside that period seemed somehow irrelevant. But times have changed. Plakans restores the balance and by the end we focus on Latvia of today, not some ever dimmer "ideal".
Initially Prof. Plakans' emphasis was hard to come to terms with. I was disappointed that the first independence period got only 25 pages out of 198 (c.f. Bilmanis' 100 of 408). Bilmanis does of course fill in the gaps to 1942, but his obvious and understandable bias, together with his florid style stand in stark contrast to Plakans' professionalism.
Prof. Plakans' work is of course a _short_ history. Perhaps he will publish a lengthier piece in the future and further share his insights with those of us hungry for them. This is nonetheless a highly recommended and challenging (though brief) introduction to Latvian history.