Conscience - Who wants peace, prepares for war

What exactly does an army protect? Borders, territory, the state – or also a way of life, memory, dignity, and the conscience of each and every one of us? This book of interviews with key figures in the Czech army explores subjects that are rarely discussed in times of peace. But in times of national threat, it's too late for them. We are now in an interim period. The eleventh hour is upon us. Service to one's country is not just a phrase. It is a profoundly personal decision to bear responsibility for something greater than oneself, something more than our own comfort. The interviews touch upon war and peace, courage and fear, obedience and doubt. They seek the line where discipline ends and conscience begins, and describe why we have taken our security for granted. They reveal a courage that doesn't mean an absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of it. The book contemplates what it means to be prepared for war so that we may live in peace. All these topics are explored through the stories of individual soldiers. With a foreword by the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel. Magdalena Dvořáková, Jan Heřmánek, Lukáš and Jiří Hirkovi, Nikola Janáčková, Karel Klinovský, Jaroslav Knichal, Petr Kolouch, Tomáš Krampla, Kristián Něnička, Aleš Opata, Petra Pihera, Karel Řehka, Peter Smik Jr. & Peter Smik Sr., Lenka Šmerdová, Ondřej Španko, Ivo Zelinka