Joseph Hurka

After the fall of Communism, Joseph Hurka traveled to Prague, where his father had fought in the Underground against the Czech-Stalinist government. As the son walks in his father’s footsteps, he uncovers a hidden past: he learns of his fathers brutal imprisonment, his fortunate release, and his fierce resistance work. This book is also a story of modern Prague and the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution. Hurka takes us with him into the heart of Prague, the “Old Town” quarter where Kafka lived, and the lesser-known streets where his father fought for democracy.

Fields of Light is finally a loving tribute to a father, a meditation on the relationship between truth and resistance, a tale of personal sacrifice and endurance—and of history reborn after extraordinary totalitarian efforts to erase it.

Fields of Light: A Son Remembers His Heroic Father won the 19th annual Pushcart Editors’ Book Award. It earned strong reviews in national and international publications, including The Prague Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and The Bloomsbury Review.

“It is the story of a man who fought for democracy and…the moving account of a son who finally comes to know his father.”