Books by Vaclav Havel
The Power of the Powerless
by Vaclav Havel
Havel will be remembered as the outstanding East European dissident writer, and he will be remembered as such above all for this essay
Disturbing the Peace
by Vaclav Havel
In the final one of these five essays, “The Politics of Hope”, you get an amazing sense of the determination of the dissidents, the signatories of Charter 77, in what was one of the most oppressive regimes in Eastern Europe, with no trade unions, of their ability to cling stubbornly to the idea of a society they believed should one day exist. He quotes the Czech philosopher Vaclav Belohradsky saying that, even though the intellectual opponents of the regime felt defeated, “We must not let ourselves be corralled into histories written by the victors.”
Interviews where books by Vaclav Havel were recommended
The best books on The Fall of Communism, recommended by Nick Thorpe
Five recommendations from the BBC’s Central Europe correspondent, who witnessed the collapse of Yugoslavia, popular uprisings in Bulgaria and Serbia, and the transformation of non-violent to violent resistance in Kosovo
The best books on Dissent, recommended by Timothy Snyder
Dissent is not just about anger, but about having a rival articulation of the world, argues American historian Timothy Snyder. He recommends five books by European writers of the 20th century who lived in regimes that “not only monopolised violence but threatened it in an everyday sense” and tells us what today’s dissidents can learn from their experience.
The best books on Human Rights, recommended by Steve Crawshaw
Amnesty International’s director of international advocacy chooses books that illuminate historical and contemporary human rights issues, from the Belgian Congo to Iran
