Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia

H. Gordon Skilling was a Canadian political scientist, known for his expertise on the history of Czechoslovakia and support for the Charter 77 dissident movement.

• Part I Introduction 1. The Musical Underground 2. The Spokesman 3. Signatories and Supporters 4. Unity and Diversity 5. Authorised Documents 6. Independent Civic Action 7. Campaign of Repression 8. The International Context 9. Conclusions Part II Documents of the Charter A. Origins of the Charter B. Chartered 77- Legality or Illegality C. Exposition of Charter Purposes D. Jan Patočka – Charter Spokesman E. Charter Numbered Documents F. Other Authorised Charter Documents G. Other Chartist Material Appendices

“The student and the general reader alike will welcome Professors Skilling’s book. The short but crammed history of the Charter cannot be understood without reference to the numerous documents of the Chartists that have streamed out since its inception, but for people in the West these documents are hard to obtain and are often untranslated. Skilling has an extensive personal collection and seems to have studied a high proportion of the rest… his discussion in Part I is accurate and comprehensive. Part II collects many important documents written since 1976, most of which we're headed to unavailable in english.”-K. V. Wilkes, Government and Opposition, Vol. 17, No. 3 (SUMMER 1982), pp. 369-377 (9 pages)