The author describes his book as a "theoretical reflection upon the revolutionary developments coming after the fall of communism." It is more a weave of his own encounters with memorable figures from the pre-1989 opposition, mostly Polish, and thoughtful commentary on what it has taken to destroy the totalitarian order in eastern Europe. He is someone who believes not in the end of history nor the victory of liberal capitalism, but in the end of ideology as a feasible and essential basis for building democracy (and not only in the East).