Putting aside its forerunners, namely the magazines Host, which was published in the 1920s, and Host do domu, which became one of the foremost cultural periodicals in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s and was banned at the dawn of the Normalization period, today's Host emerged around 1985. At that time, it was founded as a samizdat magazine under the leadership of Dusan Skála. In spite of the risks ensuing from its production and distribution, it presented, beside other samizdat magazines, such as Vokno or Revolver Revue, an islet of free literature and thinking in Communist Czechoslovakia.

In 1985-1989, five extensive issues were published. In 1990, Host was officially registered as a bimonthly and has subsequently gained a steady position within the framework of Czech literary journals. Its shape was mostly influenced by its editor and later editor-in-chief (until 1995) Igor Fic. Host's reputation has been increasing since the mid-1990s, when its frequency increased and the editorial staff initiated a transition from the form of mere text collection towards an open readers' journal. As of January 1999, Host has changed both its shape and content and has become a unique literary periodical of this kind in the Czech Republic. It is published ten times per year and includes texts by leading personalities in Czech literature and culture. Host isn't directly connected to any literary school or movement; its main purpose consists in providing topical information about both the Czech and the world literary stage.

Host – monthly for literature and readers offers every month:

- Interviews with famous and interesting figures of Czech literature and culture
- Critical reflection on new book titles
- Samples of new Czech fiction and poetry
- Studies and essays about literature, philosophy, history, sociology, etc.
- Reporting on important literary and cultural phenomena
- Jubilees. Literary history. Language columns. Polemics. Questionnaires
- Thematic blocks dedicated to interesting personalities, genres, events
- Sets of photographs by contemporary authors. Revealing probes into the history of photography
- A supplement dedicated to young and unknown authors
- Regular supplement "Svetová literatura" (World Literature). Translations. Original texts about world fiction and poetry
- Extensive "Review Supplement" monitoring new books on the market
- Quarterly supplement "Revue pro média" (Media Magazine). Media theory and critical reflection of the media

Czech self-description