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by Václav Havel

In his first book as president of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Vaclav Havel offers us a profound meditation on the nature and practice of politics and a stirring plea for morality, civility, and openness in public life in a time of overwhelming global change. From his unique perspective as both a head of state and a writer of great clarity and eloquence, Havel reflects on his experience in office, and on the questions that his own presence there brings so powerfully to mind: Is there a place for morality, and for simple decency, in politics? Have his ideals and principles--forged through two decades of courageous opposition to totalitarianism--a place in public life? His answer, put forth with remarkable candour, is unequivocally affirmative. He explores in this forthright book the practical problems facing his country today and openly examines the traumas of economic transition that have become central not only in Czechoslovakia but throughout the former Communist bloc. He g