Vaclav Benda, IV F. Flagg Taylor (EDT), Barbara Day (TRN) The Long Night of the Watchman

Annotation

"Among those who maintained the spirit of the Czech and Slovak people in the last decades of communist oppression, none was more obstinate in his convictions, or more resolute in his conduct, than Václav Benda. He did not court publicity, was hardly known in the West, and had no glamorous 'dissident' profile. But he was a deep and serious thinker, a humble Christian in his private life who also carved out a role for himself as an inspiring teacher of the young. This fascinating collection of his essays sheds a unique light on the Charter 77 movement which, by refusing to accept dictatorship and upholding the rule of law, sounded the death-knell for the Czechoslovak Communist Party." - Sir Roger Scruton, author of innumerable works, including, from St. Augustine's Press: The Meaning of Conservatism, An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Culture, On Hunting, Art and Imagination, Aesthetic Understanding, Politics of Culture and Other Essays,