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Books

What went so wrong for Vaclav Havel?

A review of Havel: A Life, by Michael Zantovsky. He was one of three key players in the death of communism. But he outstayed his welcome disastrously

8 November 2014

9:00 AM

8 November 2014

9:00 AM

Havel: A Life Michael Zantovsky

Atlantic, pp.543, £25, ISBN: 9780857898494

The unforgettable moment a quarter of a century ago when the Berlin Wall came down was the most vivid drama in that dizzying year of revolutions in 1989 when the Soviet empire fell to its knees. But another event a month later and 250 miles away in Prague was equally poignant.

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Available from the Spectator Bookshop, £22.50 Tel: 08430 600033. Victor Sebestyen’s 1946: Making the Modern World was reviewed in our 11 October issue.

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