"I hold Vasil Bykau in high regard as an opponent to totalitarian regimes in Belarus. During our encounter he never lost hope for positive changes in his country's future. I feel a certain correlation between our destinies and I regret that he was not lucky enough to experience changes, unlike those of us in Czechoslovakia, Poland, or Hungary." Vaclav Havel "This timely biography is essential reading." Arnold McMillin, professor of Russian Literature, University College London