Author

Books by Václav Havel

Václav Havel (1936–2011) was a Czech playwright, essayist, and dissident who became the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic. His plays — including The Garden Party and The Memorandum — established his reputation before his political activity made him a target of the communist government. He was a founding signatory of Charter 77 and spent years under surveillance and in prison. After 1989, his political career tested the ideas he had developed in opposition against the reality of governing. He remained one of the twentieth century's most thoughtful voices on power, conscience, and civic life.