As president of Czechoslovakia and of the nascent Czech Republic. Have led central Europe out of communism and into the twenty-first century before stepping down in 2003. In this illuminating memoir, he recollects his fourteen years at Prague Castle during this pivotal period, writing with wit, charm and candour about the peculiar life of a statesman and his lack of readiness for the surreal challenges of governing a young democracy, as well as reflecting on the future of the EU and the reach of the American superpower, and ...
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As president of Czechoslovakia and of the nascent Czech Republic. Have led central Europe out of communism and into the twenty-first century before stepping down in 2003. In this illuminating memoir, he recollects his fourteen years at Prague Castle during this pivotal period, writing with wit, charm and candour about the peculiar life of a statesman and his lack of readiness for the surreal challenges of governing a young democracy, as well as reflecting on the future of the EU and the reach of the American superpower, and explaining why he has come to believe the war in Iraq is a fiasco. And then there are the personal revelations, as he speaks for the first time about his battle with lung cancer, the death of his first wife, Olga, and the controversy that has dogged his relationship with his second wife, the Czech actress Dagmar Veskrnova. Infused with characteristic humour and well-honed irony, To the Castle and Back is an engaging self-portrait of one of the most important figures of our time.
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How often do we find in a first rate politican figure a professional creative writer? Havel is legendary, almost mythic in his public presence. This is his wonderfully crafted account, not of his resistence and imprisonment, but of his years as president of Czechoslovakia, and then of the Czech Republic. Original and exciting, the genre he has chosen generates much of the interest. It does not start at the beginning and march dutifully to the end of the story, but interweaves notes from the years of his presidential terms, answers to a journalist's questions, and accounts of the time in which he is writing, to produce a vibrant portrait of the hero who is also a deeply complex and lovable human person.
