Mart Laar is an Estonian statesman, author, historian, and founding member of the Foundation for the Investigation of Communist Crimes. Laar was one of the leaders of Estonia’s successful “Singing Revolution,” a peaceful struggle for freedom centered on the public performance of illegal patriotic songs during the country’s Soviet occupation. Laar served as prime minister from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. He led the country through rapid economic development in the 1990s, which ultimately laid the groundwork for acceptance into the European Union. From 2011 to 2012, Laar served as the minister of defense. In April 2013, he was appointed chairman of the supervisory board of the Bank of Estonia. Laar has written many books on Estonian and Soviet history, including “War in the Woods: Estonia’s Struggle for Survival 1944–1956,” the first chronicle of the Estonian resistance against Soviet occupation.