Environmentalist, activist, and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. contributes a foreword to this Skyhorse edition of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's renowned 1882 play. Regarded as one of the foremost playwrights of the nineteenth century, Henrik Ibsen tells the story of the idealist Doctor Thomas Stockmann, the medical officer of a recently opened spa in a small town in southern Norway, who finds that the water is seriously contaminated. He notifies members of the community and initially receives support and thanks for the discovery. Threatened by the possible impact of such a revelation, his brother, the town mayor, conspires with local politicians and the newspaper to suppress the story and pressure Dr. Stockmann to retract his statements. At a public meeting, an attempt is made to keep Dr. Stockmann from speaking, but he launches into a tirade condemning the corruption of the town and the tyranny of the majority. Finding his speech offensive, he is shouted down by the masses and reviled as "an enemy of the people." In his foreword, Kennedy alerts readers to the undeniable fact that the persecution of those who tell uncomfortable truths, which Ibsen described over one hundred years ago, continues to this day and is as relevant now as ever. We face environmental deregulation and degradation, politicians in lobbyists' pockets, attacks on facts that are agreed upon by reputable scientists, corporate funded and controlled research, and attempts to impede and suppress whistleblowers. The battle continues and Kennedy joins Ibsen on the front lines.

An Enemy of the People is a play that addresses the irrational tendencies of the masses and the corrupt nature of the political system that they support. It tells the story of a man and his strugle to do the right thing.

"An Enemy of the People" is Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of the animosity that can befall someone whose actions, while in the best interest of the public good, threaten the economic well being of a community. "An Enemy of the People" is the story of Dr. Stockmann who, when charged with inspecting the local public baths, discovers that the water is contaminated. When Dr. Stockmann suggests expensive repairs, the local town, which derives much of their economic prosperity from the baths, turns against him.