This biography is the first to pay close attention to Havel`s poetry & to place his later work as a writer of plays, essays, prison letters & presidential speeches in the context of his poetic beginnings, his formative stylistic & philosophical influences, & his lifelong rivalry with slightly older poets who turned, as he did, to other genres. Through a reading of Havel`s complete works in Czech, including first drafts of his plays & his voluminous correspondence, Williams produces a rounded picture of a man of courage & paradoxes.