To the Castle and Back by Vaclav Havel

To the Castle and Back by Vaclav Havel

From the former president of the Czech Republic comes this first-hand account of his years in office and the transition to democracy following the fall of Communism.

A renowned playwright, Václav Havel became one of Czechoslovakia's most prominent dissidents under Communist rule - and the president after the Velvet Revolution, making him a key player in European politics. Here we see first-hand the challenges of creating a new government, tempered with Havel's revealing insights into the difficulties posed by an era of increased globalization and conflict. He discusses not only the situation in his own country, but also such pressing issues as the future of the European Union, the war in Iraq, and the role of the United States in contemporary affairs. Written with an eye towards both the political and the personal and a witty, well-honed eloquence, To the Castle and Back is a rare glimpse into the minds of one of the most important political figures of modern times.

Vaclav Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia in 1989 and President of the Czech Republic in 1992. He is the author of many plays, essays, collections of letters, and memoirs, including Open Letters and Summer Meditations. Paul Wilson translated or cotranslated those books as well as Havel's Letters to Olga, Disturbing the Peace, and The Art of the Impossible. Peter Steiner is Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Deserts of Bohemia: Czech Fiction and Its Social Context and Russian Formalism: A Metapoetics, both from Cornell.