{"product_id":"the-long-night-of-the-watchman-essays-by-vaclav-benda-1977-1989-9781587314780","title":"The Long Night of the Watchman – Essays by Vaclav","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Long Night of the Watchman brings into English translation the writings of the renowned Czech anti-Communist dissident and Catholic thinker Vaclav Benda (1946-1999). An early signatory of Charter 77, the Czechoslovak human rights association, Benda would twice serve as a spokesman. He was a founding member of VONS (the Czech acronym for the Committee to Defend the Unjustly Persecuted) and served a four-year prison sentence for his dissident activities.\u003cbr\u003e  Benda was a keen analyst of Communist totalitarianism who was heavily involved in many facets of resistance. The writings collected in this volume thus offer a unique perspective on life under a Communist regime. Readers are given eyewitness accounts of crucial, yet little known events such the Christian pilgrimage to Velehrad in 1985. We are also transported back into Benda’s workplace as the repercussions of his signing of Charter 77 unfold. And Benda’s extended reflections on topics such as the family and totalitarianism and the fate of the Catholicism under Communism display his subtle and exacting mind.\u003cbr\u003e  The volume is divided into three sections.  “Reflections” is comprised of relatively brief texts usually prompted by some event or action, while “Reports and Defenses” is made up of short documents written for a specific purpose and often related to the regular work of Charter 77. The middle section, “Essays and Inquiries,” contains Benda’s longer pieces of a more philosophical character.\u003cbr\u003e    With The Long Night of the Watchman, Vaclav Benda’s deeply humane voice and his unbending mind come to the attention of English readers.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Index\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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.”\u003cbr\u003e – Sir Roger Scruton, author of innumerable works, including, from St. Augustine’s Press:  \u003ci\u003eThe Meaning of Conservatism, An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Modern Culture, On Hunting, Art and Imagination, Aesthetic Understanding, Politics of Culture and Other Essays\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Most people in the West have never heard of Václav Benda. That is about to change. Benda, a believing Catholic among Vaclav Havel's dissident circle, offers a distinctly Christian humanist vision for how to live faithfully, responsibly, and communally in a time of dispossession, oppression, and powerlessness. The West is now waking up to the shocking fact that we have more in common than we thought with those who endured the yoke of Marxist materialism. How do we then live? This book of Benda's essays could not possibly have come to us at a more crucial moment.”\u003cbr\u003e  – Rod Dreher, author, The Benedict Option.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“Václav Benda was one of the unsung heroes of the Revolution of 1989, a bear of a man who combined intellectual distinction with deep Catholic piety and personal charm. This collection of his essays should help acquaint the generation that knew not Joseph (Stalin) with what was really at stake in the Cold War, and how the victory over communism was won by those who, like Benda, chose to live in the truth, regardless of the cost.\u003cbr\u003e – George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair\u003cbr\u003e in Catholic Studies Ethics and Public Policy Center\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Editor’s Introduction\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I: Reflections\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Small Lesson in Democracy\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrom My Personnel File\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey Did Not Pass!\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhy Hesitate Over a Final Solution?           \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne Year After Orwell\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eConcerning Politically Motivated Repressions\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Church Militant\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThree Important Memoranda from the Czech Primate\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Call from Bratislava\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe People’s Party: Problems and Hopes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II: Essays and Inquiries\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Parallel Polis\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCatholicism and Politics:\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003eThe Situation Today, its Roots and Future Possibilities\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComments on Some Frequently Heard Comments\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Ethics of Polemics and The Necessary Measure of Tolerance\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Letter to Roger Scruton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNot Only Moral Problems\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBack to Christianity and Politics: How to Continue after Velehrad?          \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eConcerning Responsibility in Politics and for Politics\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Meaning, Context and Legacy of the Parallel Polis\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Family and the Totalitarian State          \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProspects for Political Development in Czechoslovakia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003eand the Potential Role of Charter 77\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Spiritual Renewal of the Nation: A Way Out of the Crisis?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInherent Risk   \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart III: Reports and Defenses\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Prosecution of Two Roman Catholic Clergymen in Slovakia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePoland and Us\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInformation on the Activity of Charter 77 Spokespersons and Forthcoming Materials\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI Do Not Share Your Conviction…\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI Turn to You with an Urgent Appeal           \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNotification of Criminal Activity\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Besieged Culture\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eConcerning the Imprisonment of Juveniles\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Critique of “The Idea of a Christian state”           \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Unlawful Practices of State Security\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA Pilgrimage to the Blessed Agnes of Bohemia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Prague Demonstration of August 21, 1988       \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDo Not Create a False Image of Us\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003eNotes on the Individual Texts           \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Index\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  ","brand":"St Augustine's Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49410398028119,"sku":"9781587314780","price":26.6,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781587314780.jpg?v=1730510083","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-long-night-of-the-watchman-essays-by-vaclav-benda-1977-1989-9781587314780","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}