International Kindle Paperwhite

The Power of the Powerless

4.6 out of 5 stars 381
4.2 on Goodreads
(3,233)
Loading Images...
Double-tap to zoom
$11.99 with 38 percent savings
List Price: $19.45

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
$4.99 delivery July 10 - 25. Details
Only 6 left in stock - order soon.
$$11.99 ()
Press and hold to save to specific list
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Book details

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Book overview

Get to know this book

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Frequently bought together

The Power of the Powerless
+
The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing
+
Delusion and Mass Delusion

Frequently bought together

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Total price: $00
Details
Added to Cart
spCSRF_Control
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Toy Safety

Our recommended age:
Manufacturer's minimum age:
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Customer reviews

Overall star ratings

We don’t use a simple average to calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star. Our system gives more weight to certain factors—including how recent the review is and if the reviewer bought it on Amazon. Learn more
4.6 out of 5 stars4.6 out of 5
381 global ratings
Zero tolerance for fake reviews
Zero tolerance for fake reviews

Our goal is to make sure every review is trustworthy and useful. That's why we use both technology and human investigators to block fake reviews before customers ever see them. Learn more

We block Amazon accounts that violate our community guidelines. We also block sellers who buy reviews and take legal actions against parties who provide these reviews. Learn how to report

Top reviews from the United States

5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
(4.85 stars) People of the world: live the truth to conquer the lie of totalitarianism.
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2021
The Power of the Powerless is a classic treatise on political dissent written by a man who lived under a post-totalitarian regime in the former Czechoslovakia. Furthermore, in addition to describing how to resist totalitarianism, the book also critiques the pre-supposed... See more
The Power of the Powerless is a classic treatise on political dissent written by a man who lived under a post-totalitarian regime in the former Czechoslovakia. Furthermore, in addition to describing how to resist totalitarianism, the book also critiques the pre-supposed supremacy of Western democracies that shackle their citizens with “unfreedom”; that is, a system where people enslave themselves because they neither ask who they are nor what they should be doing. Subsequently, the “unfree” citizen is fearful, demoralized and is adept at normalization: accepting the way things are without any argument about how they should be. To call a citizen of the West “unfree” at the time of the book’s original publication (1970s) may have seemed far-fetched. Yet, history has proven Havel to be a prophet who foretold that democracy is a god who would inevitably fail.

So according to Havel, what nurtures totalitarianism? Ideology. And, because ideology is the principal guarantor of the continuity of power, it is when power serves ideology that totalitarianism rises. Totalitarian ideology is disconnected from reality and the real needs of the people, which is why the system demands that people “live within the lie.” Hence, even if an individual has a conflict of conscience, the best they can offer is concessions and smiles. It is from this perspective that Havel is not surprised by the rise of immoral State power, but he is surprised at people’s willingness to accept the lie so long as they are sufficiently protected. Many people will elect to obey to “take the path of least resistance” but it is impossible to conform to a requirement and not perpetuate it. Totalitarianism is therefore only possible with the consent of the oppressed.

The hope? That the people possess a potential the State does not: to act consistent with the truth, which poses an existential threat to the whole system of lies. The power of the powerless is the potential ability of all human beings to “live within the truth,” which is any means by which a person or a group revolts against manipulation. Because the end in mind is truth, freedom and human dignity, a genuine “dissident” or “opposition movement” is therefore by definition non-political: its genuine aim goes beyond the limits placed on it by the system (i.e, a republican/democrat, rich/poor, black/white cause). And, dissidents and the movements they create are never messianic for it is the height of arrogance proclaim, “If only we were in power, we could fix this.” Reality and utopia are mutually exclusive and any attempt to fashion paradise ends in misery.

Havel’s prophecy about technology enslaving us is mind-bending considering he wrote it 40+ years ago:

"We look on helplessly as that coldly functioning machine we have created inevitably engulfs us, tearing us away from our natural affiliations … just as it removes us from the experience of ‘being’ and casts us into the world of ‘existences’.”

The author consequently concludes that we cannot use technology to overthrow the dictatorship of technology. What the reader is left to consider is purposely living a post-technology life.

The book ends with concrete, actionable strategies that answer the question, “What is to be done?” The author also challenges us to meditate on a pressing question: if a “brighter future” is distant in the future or, on the contrary, the brighter future has been here for a long time but it is our own blindness and weakness that has clouded our vision and nurtured our apathy. Havel inspires all readers to throw down the idol of government-sanctioned salvation; instead, every individual carries personal responsibility with then everywhere they go. Accordingly, every person is capable of living in the truth and materializing parallel structures based on innate human freedom, dignity, and personal trust. A man can only trust whom he knows, which means another power of the powerless lies in decentralized, local networks out of the reach of tyrants and built from the ground up with the concrete needs of people in mind.
35 people found this helpful
Share
Report
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Great Book - It will open your eyes
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2023
Times may be difficult but we always have choices. Invaluable read.
One person found this helpful
Share
Report
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Superb insights - skip the intro
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2022
Havel's roadmap toward liberty and human fulfillment in the face of the new tyrannies is so right on. I keep re-reading it. But ignore the intro, Dr. Snyder - prof at Yale - understands Havel but has no clue about how it applies to American politics; he's drunk the... See more
Havel's roadmap toward liberty and human fulfillment in the face of the new tyrannies is so right on. I keep re-reading it.
But ignore the intro, Dr. Snyder - prof at Yale - understands Havel but has no clue about how it applies to American politics; he's drunk the radical left kool-aid.
As per Havel - Lord help us live in the truth and live truly.
11 people found this helpful
Share
Report
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Great Book Pathetic Introduction
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2022
Timothy Snyder's introduction is appallingly bad. Not sure how it came to be that he was allowed to write such a simple minded inaccurate account to what is truly a masterpiece by Havel.
13 people found this helpful
Share
Report
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Highly relevant even today, if not more so.
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2021
If Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny: 20 lessons from the twentieth century" is a quick guide/primer on how to survive and resist in a totalitarian world, then Havel's book is what gave those short lessons their background reference and philosophical grounding. Having survived... See more
If Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny: 20 lessons from the twentieth century" is a quick guide/primer on how to survive and resist in a totalitarian world, then Havel's book is what gave those short lessons their background reference and philosophical grounding. Having survived those experiences himself, what Havel wrote goes beyond theoretical arguments, but cuts deep into the core of the antitheses to a post-totalitarian society. Highly recommended.
18 people found this helpful
Share
Report
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Great book. The introduction by Mr. Snyder is unfortunately biased.
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2021
The book is great. The introduction by Mr. Timothy Snyder is unfortunately biased but his personal ideology.
7 people found this helpful
Share
Report
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Totally Delivered
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2019
This book was nicely encased in a bubble wrap sleeve so I can keep the small paper back in my purse without it getting dinged up.
The item itself was pristine. Thank you so much for offering this important book for purchase.
Share
Report
3.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Okay, but for me a tough read.
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2019
Havel is famous for saying, "Keep the company of those who seek the truth. Run from those who have found it." This book is a discussion of politics in Czechoslovakia prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union. I read about half of the book and set it aside.
5 people found this helpful
Share
Report

Top reviews from other countries

re
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Intro undermines the Authors work.
Reviewed in Canada on May 29, 2023
Great Book. Appalled to see a heavy bias in the Introduction by Timothy Snyder. Incredibly hypocritical, short sighted and now that 5 years has passed, he's provably wrong. Timothy pushes MSM propaganda and normalization IN THE INTRO of this book. Absolutely unreal... BUY...See more
Great Book. Appalled to see a heavy bias in the Introduction by Timothy Snyder. Incredibly hypocritical, short sighted and now that 5 years has passed, he's provably wrong. Timothy pushes MSM propaganda and normalization IN THE INTRO of this book. Absolutely unreal... BUY THE BOOK & SKIP THE INTRODUCTION.
Great Book.
Appalled to see a heavy bias in the Introduction by Timothy Snyder.
Incredibly hypocritical, short sighted and now that 5 years has passed, he's provably wrong.
Timothy pushes MSM propaganda and normalization IN THE INTRO of this book.
Absolutely unreal...
BUY THE BOOK & SKIP THE INTRODUCTION.
One person found this helpful
Report
Joa
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Parallelgesellschaften sind die Antwort auf totalitäre Regierungen
Reviewed in Germany on October 3, 2023
Ob eine Regierung demokratisch ist oder nicht, hängt nicht davon ab, ob Wahlen stattfinden (die fanden in der DDR auch statt oder in Nordkorea), sondern wie sehr die gewählten Parteien tatsächlich den Willen des Volkes umsetzen. Im ehemaligen Tschechien hat die Ideologie...See more
Ob eine Regierung demokratisch ist oder nicht, hängt nicht davon ab, ob Wahlen stattfinden (die fanden in der DDR auch statt oder in Nordkorea), sondern wie sehr die gewählten Parteien tatsächlich den Willen des Volkes umsetzen. Im ehemaligen Tschechien hat die Ideologie des Kommunismus (wie üblich) alles schlimmer gemacht für das Volk. Und wie immer, wenn linke Politik das Leben des Volkes bestimmt, sind Gewalt, Zensur und Unterdrückung Andersdenkender an der Tagesordnung. In diesem relativ kleinen Buch beschreibt der Autor die Idee des Lebens (in) der Lüge und dem Aufstand dagegen, in dem man beginnt, die Wahrheit zu Leben. Das erste ist z. B. das Aufstellen eines Schildes "Arbeiter der Welt vereinigt euch" - etwas, was in der Coronazeit und jetzigen Kriegspropagandazeit durch neue, aber genauso dämliche Slogans ersetzt wurde. Ob Regenbogenfahnen, "Maske auf!", "Impfung schützt" oder "Heil Ukraine" - wer die Lüge lebt und Staatspropaganda nachplappert, ist Teil des unterdrückerischen Teils eines Systems, welches Andersdenkende unterdrückt. Dass gerade die Deutschen da immer wieder drauf reinfallen und immer wieder neu mitmachen, ist mehr als bedauerlich, möglicherweise ist es einfach ein Gendefekt, der den Deutschen irgendwann den Garaus machen wird. Havel bietet in dem Buch die Alternative der Wahrheit an: Der erste Schritt ist, nicht mehr die Lüge zu leben, und ein Signal an andere zu senden, dass es möglich ist, auch ohne die Lüge zu leben. Der zweite Schritt ist, eine Parallelgesellschaft aufzubauen, in der man sich mit Gleichgesinnten zusammentut und alles das, was der Staat an öffentlichen Strukturen anbietet, neu hochzieht - von einfachem Tauschhandel über Austausch und Genuss von Musik bis zu einfachen Regeln für ein besseres Leben miteinander ohne Angst, Zensur und Ausgrenzung. Diese parallelen Gesellschaften sind dezentral und entwickeln sich nach der Sehnsucht nach der Wahrheit, selbst wenn das anfangs unbequem ist. Wachsen diese parallelen Gesellschaften genügend an, wächst auch in der Bevölkerung die Erkenntnis, dass man nicht mehr die Lüge leben muss, um überleben zu können, sondern, dass es Alternativen gibt. Dieser Mechanismus ist übrigens nicht neu, sondern entwickelt sich immer, wenn totalitäre Strukturen entstehen, die der Bevölkerung das Leben in der Lüge aufzwingen. Beispiel aus der Coronazeit: In der Coronazeit hat so - nachdem Demonstrationen mehr oder weniger untersagt worden waren - sich dann halt eine Kultur des Spazierengehen entwickelt. Gerade in einer Zeit, in der nicht gewählte Organisationen Befehlsgewalt über Bevölkerungen bekommen wollen (und das auch noch von unseren Regierungen unterstützt wird), ist das Prinzip der Parallelgesellschaft wichtig. Es würde mich nicht wundern, wenn das Buch demnächst eine "Warnung" erhält, weil es regierungskritische Gedanken enthält.
Ob eine Regierung demokratisch ist oder nicht, hängt nicht davon ab, ob Wahlen stattfinden (die fanden in der DDR auch statt oder in Nordkorea), sondern wie sehr die gewählten Parteien tatsächlich den Willen des Volkes umsetzen.

Im ehemaligen Tschechien hat die Ideologie des Kommunismus (wie üblich) alles schlimmer gemacht für das Volk. Und wie immer, wenn linke Politik das Leben des Volkes bestimmt, sind Gewalt, Zensur und Unterdrückung Andersdenkender an der Tagesordnung.

In diesem relativ kleinen Buch beschreibt der Autor die Idee des Lebens (in) der Lüge und dem Aufstand dagegen, in dem man beginnt, die Wahrheit zu Leben. Das erste ist z. B. das Aufstellen eines Schildes "Arbeiter der Welt vereinigt euch" - etwas, was in der Coronazeit und jetzigen Kriegspropagandazeit durch neue, aber genauso dämliche Slogans ersetzt wurde. Ob Regenbogenfahnen, "Maske auf!", "Impfung schützt" oder "Heil Ukraine" - wer die Lüge lebt und Staatspropaganda nachplappert, ist Teil des unterdrückerischen Teils eines Systems, welches Andersdenkende unterdrückt.

Dass gerade die Deutschen da immer wieder drauf reinfallen und immer wieder neu mitmachen, ist mehr als bedauerlich, möglicherweise ist es einfach ein Gendefekt, der den Deutschen irgendwann den Garaus machen wird.

Havel bietet in dem Buch die Alternative der Wahrheit an: Der erste Schritt ist, nicht mehr die Lüge zu leben, und ein Signal an andere zu senden, dass es möglich ist, auch ohne die Lüge zu leben. Der zweite Schritt ist, eine Parallelgesellschaft aufzubauen, in der man sich mit Gleichgesinnten zusammentut und alles das, was der Staat an öffentlichen Strukturen anbietet, neu hochzieht - von einfachem Tauschhandel über Austausch und Genuss von Musik bis zu einfachen Regeln für ein besseres Leben miteinander ohne Angst, Zensur und Ausgrenzung.

Diese parallelen Gesellschaften sind dezentral und entwickeln sich nach der Sehnsucht nach der Wahrheit, selbst wenn das anfangs unbequem ist. Wachsen diese parallelen Gesellschaften genügend an, wächst auch in der Bevölkerung die Erkenntnis, dass man nicht mehr die Lüge leben muss, um überleben zu können, sondern, dass es Alternativen gibt.

Dieser Mechanismus ist übrigens nicht neu, sondern entwickelt sich immer, wenn totalitäre Strukturen entstehen, die der Bevölkerung das Leben in der Lüge aufzwingen. Beispiel aus der Coronazeit: In der Coronazeit hat so - nachdem Demonstrationen mehr oder weniger untersagt worden waren - sich dann halt eine Kultur des Spazierengehen entwickelt.

Gerade in einer Zeit, in der nicht gewählte Organisationen Befehlsgewalt über Bevölkerungen bekommen wollen (und das auch noch von unseren Regierungen unterstützt wird), ist das Prinzip der Parallelgesellschaft wichtig.

Es würde mich nicht wundern, wenn das Buch demnächst eine "Warnung" erhält, weil es regierungskritische Gedanken enthält.
Report
Louise
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Fantastic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2021
"The Power of the Powerless" by Václav Havel: This novel is extremely interesting as it tells the philosophical and psychological story of why people live under oppressive regimes act the way they do also explains the subliminal characteristics and methods of control that...See more
"The Power of the Powerless" by Václav Havel: This novel is extremely interesting as it tells the philosophical and psychological story of why people live under oppressive regimes act the way they do also explains the subliminal characteristics and methods of control that oppressors and their advisers undertake to maintain control over people's lives. Every line is like a punch-line with short chapters, each encapsulating a different facet of how a totalitarian regime works and succeeds. I would recommend this to many different readers - especially if you are interested in how power has been manipulated and abused throughout history, and the psychology of those at the forefront of it.
"The Power of the Powerless" by Václav Havel: This novel is extremely interesting as it tells the philosophical and psychological story of why people live under oppressive regimes act the way they do also explains the subliminal characteristics and methods of control that oppressors and their advisers undertake to maintain control over people's lives. Every line is like a punch-line with short chapters, each encapsulating a different facet of how a totalitarian regime works and succeeds. I would recommend this to many different readers - especially if you are interested in how power has been manipulated and abused throughout history, and the psychology of those at the forefront of it.
6 people found this helpful
Report
Brett Mcsweeney
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Living a lie or living in truth
Reviewed in Australia on April 9, 2021
This is a powerfully inspiring book written for those in what Havel calls a post totalitarian society. This is a society where the state does not use 1984 style surveillance but where the subjects are cowed into living a lie, effectively policing themselves and those around...See more
This is a powerfully inspiring book written for those in what Havel calls a post totalitarian society. This is a society where the state does not use 1984 style surveillance but where the subjects are cowed into living a lie, effectively policing themselves and those around them. Those few who refuse to lie are a mortal threat to the regime and though notionally powerless are the key to overturning tyranny. The lessons for today are deep.
This is a powerfully inspiring book written for those in what Havel calls a post totalitarian society. This is a society where the state does not use 1984 style surveillance but where the subjects are cowed into living a lie, effectively policing themselves and those around them. Those few who refuse to lie are a mortal threat to the regime and though notionally powerless are the key to overturning tyranny. The lessons for today are deep.
Report
David A Pratt
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Timothy Snyder’s introduction sets context for 21st century !
Reviewed in Canada on April 1, 2022
Václav Havel’s book-length essay is an important reading adventure but it was written in the 1970s (well after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968) … and 21st century readers might see it simply as an historical document … but the contemporary context would...See more
Václav Havel’s book-length essay is an important reading adventure but it was written in the 1970s (well after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968) … and 21st century readers might see it simply as an historical document … but the contemporary context would emphasize the need to overcome what is now called “normalization” of what’s wrong in the world … Havel was a better person than most who pretend to be politicians these days … his biographical story is engaging too but that’s a different reading adventure! DaP
Václav Havel’s book-length essay is an important reading adventure but it was written in the 1970s (well after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968) … and 21st century readers might see it simply as an historical document … but the contemporary context would emphasize the need to overcome what is now called “normalization” of what’s wrong in the world … Havel was a better person than most who pretend to be politicians these days … his biographical story is engaging too but that’s a different reading adventure! DaP
One person found this helpful
Report

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon