A BOOK on the link between oppressive government and a flourishing glass industry has won a national award.

Sunderland University professor Sylva Petrova's book, Czech Glass, has been named National Book of the Year in her home country.

It reveals how one of the most oppressive administrations of recent history inadvertently helped the former Czechoslovakia produce some of the world's best glass artists.

Prof Petrova, who lived under the Communist regime for most of her life, describes in the book how art and sculpture were controlled so tightly that many talented artists were driven into glass work, as it was one of the few areas which carried on relatively untouched.

Prof Petrova, an art historian based at the university's glass department, in the National Glass Centre, said: "For many years, art was directed by the state. It decided how it should look. However, studio glass stayed a little out of its control.

"For this reason, a lot of talented artists and sculptors moved into this field and let themselves go.

"Glass design in the country remains among the best in the world."

The book will be launched in London next week, but is already selling well in the UK, America, Japan and Australia. It is available from the National Glass Centre.