Acknowledgements — fond memories of the heart cast in words — are especially difficult to summarize in a project that stretches back nearly two decades, to the early 1980s, when I first made scholarly and political contact with the unhappy paradise called the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. So I shall say only that I am most grateful to the many scores of people who have helped me to prepare and complete this book, especially during the past five years of intensive research and writing. For reasons of space, I cannot mention them all, although it would be wrong to let three groups of people suffer in silence the condescension of posterity.
Many individuals generously contributed their time and energy in interviews that I conducted in various countries around the world. A very few interviewees wished to remain anonymous because they personally feel too close to Václav Havel, and therefore do not wish to offend him, for instance by breaking a compact to remain silent about a certain phase of their lives together. There were others who asked for their anonymity because they felt, just prior to publication, that their political solidarity with him could be jeopardized by the book’s uncompromisingly tough praise for Havel’s achievements. I have naturally respected the wishes of the former small handful of people; the wishes of the latter group, consisting of only two individuals, I have accepted, with some puzzlement. Then there were those individuals who gave everything, sometimes more than once, always generously. I gratefully acknowledge the stimulating conversations with Václav Havel, to whom I explained at the outset of the project my intention to write an unauthorized biography with a difference, but without malice. His brother, Ivan Havel, understood from the beginning that the book was to be a serious work of scholarship, and accordingly gave his time and advice with great intelligence, wit, prudence, and patience. There were also many other interviewees whose comments and advice I have tried hard to incorporate in the book. They include: Rudolf Battěk; Václav Bělohradský; John Bok; Petr Brod; Karel Brynda; Barry Buzan; Ivan Chvatík; Penelope Connell; Viola Fischerová; Anna Freimanová; the late Ernest Gellner; Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz; Vladimír Hanzel; Pierre Hassner; Dagmar Havlová; Milena Janišová; Zdeněk Jičínský; Jan Kavan; Václav Klaus; Radim Kopecký; Pavel Kosatík; Hana Ledecká; Tapani Lausti; Naděžda Macurová; Louise Mares; Adam Michnik; Stanislav Milota; František Novak; Martin Palouš; Jiří Pehe; Harold Pinter; Petr Pithart; Vilém Prečan; Adam Roberts; Richard Rose; Jacques Rupnik; Michal Schonberg; Prince Karel Schwarzenberg; Pavel Seifter; Michal Šerf; Jiřina Šiklová; Joska Skalník; H. Gordon Skilling; Josef Škvorecký; Andrej Stankovič; Olga Stankovičová; Max van der Stoel; Alois Strnad; Jiří Suk; Petruška Šustrová; Pavel Tigrid; Josef Topol; Jacqueline True; Oldřich Tůma; Jan Urban; Zdeněk Urbánek; Ludvík Vaculík; František Vlasák; Jitka Vodňanská; Phillip Whitehead; Paul Wilson; Václav Žak; and Milan Znoj.
Other individuals helped by providing invaluable materials and vital forms of technical assistance during the preparation of the book. My very special thanks are due to Derek Paton, a research assistant at the Centre for the Study of Democracy in London, and the Institute of Contemporary History in Prague. For nearly four years, he was a constant companion who tirelessly gathered documents, provided honest advice, arranged meetings and provided excellent translations, always with professional dedication, unending patience, outstanding intelligence, and lively humour. He should certainly not be implicated in any errors of judgement or public controversies spawned by the book. The British Academy’s generous Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged. Gabriela Müllerová helped me improve my basic Czech and to analyse hundreds of stories and reports about Havel during a twelve-month period. Eva Skryová, Wendy Stokes, and Nancy Wood were partners in underground crime. Many staff and students at the Centre for the Study of Democracy provided indispensable help, especially Sara Amos, Patrick Burke, Bridget Cotter, Niels Jacob Harbitz, Simon Joss, Chantal Mouffe, John Owens, Richard Rose, and Richard Whitman. Many other colleagues at the University of Westminster provided invaluable support for my research work, including Professor Margaret Blunden, Professor Geoffrey Holt, Professor Keith Phillips, Professor Michael Trevan, and the Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Dr Geoffrey Copland. Some individuals generously supplied me with photographic illustrations, including Alexander Dobrovodský, Ivan Havel, Bohdan Holomíček, Martin Hykl, Jaroslav Krejčí, Tomki Němec, Magdalena Tichá, Jitka Vodňanská, Vladimir Weiss, Petr Zhoř, and the Czech News Agency. Still others have helped satisfy manifold requests, for instance by providing materials ranging from rare newspaper clippings to valuable primary source documents. They include: Timothy Garton Ash; Anthony Cantle; April Carter; Mita Castle; Vojtech Čelko; David Daniels; Marzia Ferrari; Klára Hůrková; Jan Kavan; Pavel Kosatík; Jiří Kuběna; Alan Levy; Paul Mier; Jana Nálevková; Petr Oslzlý; Jiřina Šiklová; Roger Scruton; H. Gordon Skilling; Eva Šormová; Alfred Stepan; Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz; Viktor Stoilov; Jan Šulc; Helena Taylor; Oldřich Tůma; and Gerald Turner. For help during the past five years in translating and interpreting Havel, I should especially like to thank Paul Wilson and A.G. Brain, Derek Paton and Marzia Ferrari. In the world of publishing, I am especially grateful to Sara Fisher, Bill Hamilton, and Jim Gill at A.M. Heath; Petra Tobišková and Alexandra Panthel; and the fabulous group at Bloomsbury Publishers, especially my wise and skilled editors Liz Calder and Mary Tomlinson; and Penny Edwards, Jane Ellis, Nigel Newton; Matt Richell; and Will Webb.
The other members of my household enabled the book to reach press in numberless ways. There is no need to embarrass them by describing in detail their efforts to keep up my spirits and rescue me from gross obsessions. Rebecca Allison and Leo Lawson-O’Neil helped in more ways than they know. Big hugs and many kisses for George Keane and Alice Keane; and ditto for Kathy O’Neil, to whom I dedicate this book, with love.