Illustrations

I gratefully acknowledge the generosity of those who furnished the photographs included in this book, and described below:

Following the contents page: the centre of attention, by Vladimir Weiss

Beginnings: during his first year, from the family archives

Folly: at the family gravesite, Košíře Cemetery, Prague, 1940, from the family archives.

Republicans: the Havel family strolling at Havlov, from the family archives

Devil’s Playground: the javelin thrower, at Havlov, from the family archives

Zoology: ‘My home, my castle!’, at Havlov, from the family archives

Resistance: Miloš Havel, from the family archives

Cold Peace: Václav Havel with younger brother Ivan, on the first day he attended school, September 1944, from the family archives

Red Stars: With a Lenin hat, from the family archives

Coup de Prague: Dressed up as a musketeer, during summer holidays at Havlov, 1949, from the family archives

Flying Splinters: Božena Havlová, in the swimming pool at Havlov, from the family archives

Trials: Dressed as a Roman notable, with brother Ivan (left) and Jan Škoda (right), at Havlov, 1949, from the family archives

Thirty-Sixers: with the poet Jiří Paukert, from the family archives

Ashes on Ice: seated at a desk, with brother Ivan, in the embankment flat, Prague, September 1954, from the family archives

The Public Poet: with a cup of coffee, from the family archives

Stalin’s Carcass: dressed like an eccentric family guest, at Havlov, pipe in hand, from the family archives

To Barracks: in uniform, as First Lieutenant Škrovánek, in the staged performance of Pavel Kohout’s September Nights, 1957-8, from the family archives

Socialist Realism: with Olga Šplíchalová, from the family archives

Garden Party: dressed for a performance at Hrádeček, 1976, by Bohdan Holomíček

The Crisis: at the Divadlo Na zábradlí, from the family archives

The Memorandum: with Arthur Miller, 1963, by Inge Morath

Summer Friendship: tie-dyed in a field of flowers, by Bohdan Holomíček

Mid-summer’s Night: in London in 1968, by the Guardian

A Politician of Retreat: profile, in shades, from the family archives

Normalization: carrying a ladder in the orchard at Hrádeček, by Bohdan Holomíček

Late-Socialism: reading a book on the art of brewing, by Bohdan Holomíček

Beggars’ Opera: the première of Žebrácká opera, 1975, by Bohdan Holomíček

Charter 77: with Adam Michnik and Jacek Kuron (to Havel’s left), at an illegal meeting with Solidarnošć, Krkonoše, from the Czechoslovak News Agency

Violence: reading, gramophone behind, from the family archives

Courage: as Caesar, about to die at Brutus’s hand, from the family archives

The Powerless: gun-toting gangster, from Jitka Vodňanská and Alexander Dobrovodský

The Victim: clutching a bag of apples, after returning from prison, from my collection

Prison: dressed in black, smoking, from the family archives

Largo Desolato: ‘All you need is love’: with Olga at Hrádeček, by Tomki Němec

Temptation: ‘You’re Number One’: with Jitka Vodňanská, on his fiftieth birthday, from Jitka Vodňanská

Cliff-Hanging: with whisky bottle, during an interview with Erica Blair, November 1986, by Gerald Turner

Revolution: at a Civic Forum meeting, by Jaroslav Krejčí

Velvet Power: Waving to a giant crowd from the balcony of the Melantrich building, Wenceslas Square, from the Czech News Agency

Machiavelli: facing Alexander Dubček, Ruzyně Airport, 1990, by Tomki Němec

A Crowned Republic: with tailors, Prague Castle, 1990, by Tomki Němec

Te Deum Laudamus: Olga and Václav on their knees in St Vitus’s Cathedral, by Petr Zhoř

Fun and Games: with the Rolling Stones, Prague, 18 August 1990, by Tomki Němec

The Manipulator: watching himself on the BBC, Lány, 1990, by Tomki Němec

Defections: reversing his BMW at Lány, by Tomki Němec

Parliament: before a joint session of the US Congress, with Vice-President Dan Quayle and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Congressman Thomas S. Foley, 21 February 1990, by Tomki Němec

Lustration: in shades, guard in background, by Martin Hykl

Market Power: with Václav Klaus and Prince Karel Schwarzenberg, by Tomki Němec

Velvet Divorce: informing the Speaker of the Federal Assembly of his resignation, 17 July 1992, watched by Pavel Tigrid, by Tomki Němec

Oh Europe!: with Umberto Eco and Olga, on Capri, by Tomki Němec

Metamorphosis: with Dáša Havlová, by Tomki Němec

Death: on the beach at Cabo da Roca, in Portugal, 14 December 1990, by Tomki Němec