The Dilemmas of Dissidence in East-Central Europe: Citizen Intellectuals and Philosopher Kings

This volume discusses one of the major currents leading to the fall of communism. Falk examines the intellectual dissident movements in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary from the late 1960s through to 1989. In spite of its historic significance, no other comprehensive survey has appeared on the subject. The author argues that the intellectuals and dissident writers of the region not only contributed mightily to the events themselves, but also collectively bequeathed to the world an oeuvre that constitutes one of the most original, important and useful contributions to political theory today. In addition to the huge list of written sources from samizdat works to recent essays, Falk's sources include interviews with many personalities of those events as well as videos and films.