Havel : a life /
Michael Zantovsky.
- xiv, 543 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, photographs ; 24 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 521-527) and index.
Prologue -- 18 December 2011, a dark cold day -- Born with a silver spoon -- Portrait of the artist as a very young man -- The silver wind -- Good soldier Havel -- Olga -- The apprentice -- The garden party -- The sixties -- A private school of politics -- The memorandum -- The gathering storm -- Scoundren times -- Mountain hotel -- Roll out the barrels -- The beggar's opera -- It's only rock 'n' roll -- The charter -- The mistake -- The greengrocer revolt -- The empire strikes back -- The trial -- Dear Olga -- Free at last -- The praise of folly -- The battle for Wenceslas Square -- That velvet thing -- The fog of revolution -- The road to the castle -- The bag of fleas -- The president of rock 'n' roll -- First we take Manhattan -- The we'll take the Kremlin -- The innocents abroad -- Making the fish -- The end of Czechoslovakia -- Waiting as a state of hope -- The bonfire of scruples -- In search of allies -- Back to Europe -- The yin and the yang -- Between life and death -- The ugly mood -- Farewell to arms -- Paroled -- Leaving.
VaÌclav Havel was one of the most prominent figures of the twentieth century: iconoclast and intellectual, renowned playwright turned political dissident, president of a united then divided nation, and dedicated human rights activist. Written by Michael Zantovsky, Havel's former press secretary, advisor, and longtime friend, Havel: A Life presents a revelatory portrait of this giant among men and the turbulent times through which he prevailed.