Power of the Powerless

This is a new book. Condition: Brand New.

One of the most 'original and compelling pieces of political writing' to come out of the Soviet Union, published in Vintage Classics on its fortieth anniversary

Vaclav Havel's remarkable and rousing essay on the tyranny of apathy, with a new introduction by Timothy Snyder

Cowed by life under Communist Party rule, a greengrocer hangs a placard in their shop window- Workers of the world, unite! Is it a sign of the grocer's unerring ideology? Or a symbol of the lies we perform to protect ourselves?

Written in 1978, Vaclav Havel's meditation on political dissent - the rituals of its suppression, and the sparks that re-ignite it - would prove the guiding manifesto for uniting Solidarity movements across the Soviet Union. A portrait of activism in the face of falsehood and intimidation, The Power of the Powerless remains a rousing call against the allure of apathy.

'Havel's diagnosis of political pathologies has a special resonance in the age of Trump' Pankaj Mishra

Book details and technical specifications

Format: Paperback / softback
ISBN13: 9781784875046
Published: September 2018

Number of pages: 176
Width: 111 mm
Height: 179 mm
Depth: 11 mm

Publisher: Vintage Publishing