An essential new history of Central Europe that deftly unravels the strands of a long and complex past (Wall Street Journal)

Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture. Central Europeans launched the Reformation and Romanticism, developed the philosophy of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and advanced some of the twentieth century's most important artistic movements.

Drawing on a lifetime of research and scholarship, The Middle Kingdoms tells as never before the captivating story of two thousand years of Central Europe's history and its enduring significance in world affairs.

A richly detailed and well-informed month-by-month accounting
of all the major Polish customs and traditions practiced over the centuries.
Ms. Knab stirs and reawakens our ancestral memory.

―The Kosciuszko Foundation Newsletter

Now in a paperback edition with illustrations, historical black
and white photographs, and color photographs throughout the book!

This
unique, well-researched reference is arranged by month, showing the various
occasions, feasts and holidays prominent in Polish culture―beginning with
December it continues through Holy Week Customs, superstitions, beliefs and
rituals associated with farming, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, midsummer, harvest
festival, wedding rites, Name Days, birth and death. There is also a chapter on
Polish pastimes and games for children.

Many of the customs and traditions described in the book have
been lost even in today's modern Poland. World wars, massive immigration, the
loss of the oral tradition, urbanization and politics have changed the face of
a once agrarian people and their way of life throughout the calendar year. The
changes, however, have not been able to erase the memory of that way of life
completely.

Many
communities of the Polish diaspora throughout the world still feel
connected to Poland and choose to reenact harvest celebrations, reminding
themselves of their ancestors' reverence for the grains and gifts of bread. The
sharing of oplatek, the Christmas Eve wafer, and the words of love while
doing so, continue to bind family and friends together. Although the
purpose and meaning may have been lost and forgotten, the oczepiny ceremony
(the unveiling) is still the mainstay of almost every wedding where the bride
declares Polish heritage.

This invaluable resource is
perfect for anyone who claims Polish ancestry, diligently practicing that which
they learned at their parents' and grandparents' knees. It is for families who
wish to teach Polish heritage and customs to their children, and for anyone
seeking to learn more about their Slavic roots.

The astonishing true story of the CIA's program to smuggle tens of millions of books across the Iron Curtain--from George Orwell and Hannah Arendt to Agatha Christie--during the Cold War.

A book is like a reservoir of freedom.--Adam Michnik, Polish dissident

For nearly five decades after the Second World War, the Iron Curtain divided Europe, forming the longest and most heavily guarded border on earth. No physical combat would take place along this frontier: the risk of nuclear annihilation was too high for that. Instead, the war was fought psychologically. It was a battle for hearts, minds and intellects. Few understood this more clearly than George Minden, head of a covert intelligence operation known as the CIA book program, which aimed to undermine Soviet censorship and inspire revolt by offering different visions of thought and culture.

From its Manhattan headquarters, Minden's book club secretly sent around ten million banned titles into the East. Volumes were smuggled aboard trucks and yachts, dropped from balloons, hidden aboard trains and stowed in travelers' luggage. Nowhere were the books welcomed more warmly than in Poland, where they would circulate covertly among circles of likeminded readers, quietly making the case against Soviet communism. Such was the demand for Minden's books that dissidents soon began to reproduce these works in the underground. By the late 1980s, illicit literature was so pervasive in Poland that censorship broke down: the Iron Curtain soon followed.

Charlie English narrates this tale of Cold War spy craft, smuggling and secret printing operations for the first time, highlighting the work of a handful of extraordinary people who stood up to the intellectual strait-jacket Stalin had created. People like Miroslaw Chojecki, who suffered beatings, jail and exile in pursuit of his clandestine mission, and Minden, the CIA's mastermind, who didn't waver in his belief in the importance of culture and diversity of thought. This is a story about the power of the printed word as a means of resistance and liberation. Books, it shows, can set you free.

The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland offers a comprehensive examination of the history of Jewish cemeteries in Poland, shedding light on an overlooked aspect of Holocaust history. Beginning with the settlement of Jewish communities in Poland, the book covers the establishment and subsequent destruction of over 1,200 Jewish cemeteries within the country's present borders. Krzysztof Bielawski draws on meticulous research and firsthand experience to explore the complex dynamics behind the destruction, exposing the roles played by various actors. Through a detailed analysis of texts, iconographic sources, and archival materials, the book not only documents the destruction but also seeks to identify the perpetrators, challenging common misconceptions and offering a nuanced perspective on this dark chapter in history.

You may support the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, where the author works, at www.fodz.pl.

From Warsaw with Love is the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War, told by the award-winning author John Pomfret.

Spanning decades and continents, from the battlefields of the Balkans to secret nuclear research labs in Iran and embassy grounds in North Korea, this saga begins in 1990. As the United States cobbles together a coalition to undo Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, six US officers are trapped in Iraq with intelligence that could ruin Operation Desert Storm if it is obtained by the brutal Iraqi dictator. Desperate, the CIA asks Poland, a longtime Cold War foe famed for its excellent spies, for help. Just months after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Solidarity government in Warsaw sends a veteran ex-Communist spy who'd battled the West for decades to rescue the six Americans.

John Pomfret's gripping account of the 1990 cliffhanger in Iraq is just the beginning of the tale about intelligence cooperation between Poland and the United States, cooperation that one CIA director would later describe as one of the two foremost intelligence relationships that the United States has ever had. Pomfret uncovers new details about the CIA's black site program that held suspected terrorists in Poland after 9/11 as well as the role of Polish spies in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In the tradition of the most memorable works on espionage, Pomfret's book tells a distressing and disquieting tale of moral ambiguity in which right and wrong, black and white, are not conveniently distinguishable. As the United States teeters on the edge of a new cold war with Russia and China, Pomfret explores how these little-known events serve as a reminder of the importance of alliances in a dangerous world.

Two invasions.

Two cruel enemies backed by massive armies.

An undermanned and poorly armed group of Underground soldiers decide to fight back against all odds.

The fight will take them on an incredible journey from the wild east all the way to the Warsaw Uprising.

This book tells the WWII story of Lieutenant Józef Niedźwiecki, a cavalry officer from the northeast borderlands of Poland. Beginning with the Battle of Lwów in 1939, this amazing narrative follows Józef through over five years of battles, culminating in imprisonment in the notorious Nazi POW camp Stalag XB, and finally, liberation and escape to first England then the United States.

Over the course of those five years, Józef escaped twice from the clutches of the NKVD, the first time narrowly avoiding being executed in the Katyn Forest Massacre, the second time after over a year of torture and interrogation in NKVD prison.

He led a squadron of partisans under the command of the famed Major Adolf Pilch, and was one of the organizing leaders of the Iwieniec Uprising, referred to by historians as one of the largest and most successful military operations in the history of the Polish Home Army.

Józef was responsible for discovering a secret Soviet military order that proved that the Russian command had officially ordered the betrayal of the Poles who were supposed to be their allies. He was awarded four medals of valor, including the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration.

This is the story of a soldier and his family, and their fight to stand against both the forces of Hitler and the forces of Stalin, saving as many as they could along the way. This is a story of courage, sacrifice and perseverance; betrayal and persecution; and also miraculous twists of fate.

An innocent family who were denied...

This is the story of our family who were denied their liberty and exiled to a most isolated region of Russia.

Housed in wooden huts, freezing conditions of -30C surrounded by high fences and forests and the NKVD.

Our family survived the harshest of working and living conditions. They were resilient, stubborn. The love of their country kept them going. They were determined to escape the gulags and they did, at huge cost.

We, Alec and Teresa, are the guardians of our family story, and with the input of the younger generation of our family, we tell that story.

Please note: 'A Family Exiled' has been amended and split into two separate shorter books: 'Enemies of the State' and 'Hurricanes of Polish Fury' (the sequel - due for publication by end of 2024). This is to allow for an easier read of a substantial volume of historical information.

Embark on an enlightening journey through the turbulent yet rich tapestry of Polish history with Polish History Unravelled: The Untold History of Poland.

From the early medieval period, where the Piasts forged a Christian identity, to the grandeur of the Jagiellonian dynasty and the trials of 20th-century communism, this book unravels the threads of Poland's past, illuminating its triumphs, struggles, and enduring spirit.

Delve into the depths of political intrigue, the fervor of societal upheavals, and the resilience of a nation striving for freedom.

A captivating narrative awaits, inviting you to uncover the untold stories that have shaped Poland's destiny.

Discover the heart and soul of a nation that has risen from the ashes, beckoning you to explore its captivating history.

Dive into Polish History Unravelled today and unearth the secrets of Poland's past that resonate with its present.

The catastrophic terror Soviet power unleashed on the Ukrainian countryside in the early 1930s altered every aspect of village life. Based on extensive interviews with villagers throughout Ukraine, The Transformation of Civil Society provides an oral history of the material and cultural destruction sustained in rural Ukraine throughout the Stalinist era. Beginning with wholesale deportations and evictions, followed by the process of collectivization in Ukraine, the Soviet state's impact on peasant life extended deep into the fabric of society. Targeting the cultural life of these Ukrainians, the 1930s began with the physical repression of religious institutions and personnel, the repression of church ritual, and later, the repression of entertainment and expressive culture such as music making. By bringing to light the experiences of more than four hundred Ukrainians who witnessed the terror of the Stalinist era, William Noll privileges villagers' points of view on the near total destruction of their world and preserves the memory of their civil society. Almost twenty-five years after its Ukrainian publication, The Transformation of Civil Society makes this classic available in English for the first time.

Poles and Jews: A Call for Myth Reconstruction confronts the anti-Polonism deeply embedded among American Jews and Poland's enduring relationship with antisemitism. With two decades of research and in-depth interviews with scholars, community leaders, and laity in Poland and the U.S., Stark-Blumenthal dispels myths, and approaches this relationship anew.

When Soviet soldiers force their way into the Nowicki home at 3:00am, Ziuta has no idea why her family is being arrested, where they are going or when they will return. From the safety of home in Poland to the slave labor camps of Soviet Russia, Ziuta's family suffers starvation, arctic temperatures, and separation. At their most desperate hour, only a miracle would keep each family member alive. Could a kind-hearted Maharaja from faraway India be the one to rescue Ziuta and hundreds of other distressed Polish children? Imogene Salva reconstructs her mother's wartime experiences to expose us to a part of World War II history not familiar to most Westerners. This thought-provoking true-life story is sure to inspire you, while reminding us that human compassion can be found in the most remote corners of the world.

Imogene Salva is a first generation American-born Pole. She grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY, and traveled yearly to Poland throughout her childhood. She studied in France and holds an MA in Linguistics. She has taught Spanish, Polish and French, K-12, in New York and Colorado. She presently lives in Westminster, CO with her husband Brian. As an adult Imogene realized that her mother's wartime story was shared by thousands but known only to a few. She is happy to have this opportunity to broaden the knowledge of this little known topic.

Elias Feinzilberg is a young man living in Lodz, Poland, when he is separated from his family as the Nazis invade his country at the start of World War II. At this moment, his life expectancy is at best a few months. Against all odds, surviving the torment, deprivation, and degradation of nine concentration camps, he encounters Esther. Their meeting reinforces a promise he made to his father, to survive. This is a story about the human spirit, love, and triumph. It is particularly relevant in today's environment of rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial

Winner of Asymptote Journal's 2016 Close Approximations Translation Contest and Shortlisted for the Ryszard Kapuscinski Prize, History of a Disappearance is the fascinating true story of a small mining town in the southwest of Poland that, after seven centuries of history, disappeared.

Lying at the crucible of Central Europe, the Silesian village of Kupferberg suffered the violence of the Thirty Years War, the Napoleonic Wars, and World War I. After Stalin's post-World War II redrawing of Poland's borders, Kupferberg became Miedzianka, a town settled by displaced people from all over Poland and a new center of the Eastern Bloc's uranium-mining industry. Decades of neglect and environmental degradation led to the town being declared uninhabitable, and the population was evacuated. Today, it exists only in ruins, with barely a hundred people living on the unstable ground above its collapsing mines.

In this work of unsparing and insightful reportage, renowned journalist, photographer, and architecture critic Filip Springer rediscovers this small town's fascinating history. Digging beyond the village's mythic foundations and the great wars and world leaders that shaped it, Springer catalogs the lost human elements: the long-departed tailor and deceased shopkeeper; the parties, now silenced, that used to fill the streets with shouts and laughter; and the once-beautiful cemetery, with gravestones upended by tractors and human bones scattered by dogs. In Miedzianka, Springer sees a microcosm of European history, and a powerful narrative of how the ghosts of the past continue to haunt us in the present.

A major new assessment of the vanished kingdom of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth--one which recognizes its achievements before its destruction

Richard Butterwick tells the compelling story of the last decades of one of Europe's largest and least understood polities: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Drawing on the latest research, Butterwick vividly portrays the turbulence the Commonwealth experienced. Far from seeing it as a failed state, he shows the ways in which it overcame the stranglehold of Russia and briefly regained its sovereignty, the crowning success of which took place on 3 May 1791--the passing of the first Constitution of modern Europe.

The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland offers a comprehensive examination of the history of Jewish cemeteries in Poland, shedding light on an overlooked aspect of Holocaust history. Beginning with the settlement of Jewish communities in Poland, the book covers the establishment and subsequent destruction of over 1,200 Jewish cemeteries within the country's present borders. Krzysztof Bielawski draws on meticulous research and firsthand experience to explore the complex dynamics behind the destruction, exposing the roles played by various actors. Through a detailed analysis of texts, iconographic sources, and archival materials, the book not only documents the destruction but also seeks to identify the perpetrators, challenging common misconceptions and offering a nuanced perspective on this dark chapter in history.

You may support the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, where the author works, at www.fodz.pl.

Welcome to a world of Adidas, Kalashnikovs, and organized crime. After the fall of communism, the most dangerous Mafia you've never heard of ran Poland as their own private playground and wallowed in all the luxury that Eastern Europe had to offer-until someone at the heart of the gang turned traitor and brought it all crashing down in a bloody round of murder and betrayal.

Most Europeans know Poland for pierogi, cheap domestic staff, and questionable LGBTQ+ policies. But back in the years after the fall of communism it was a gangster state where criminals bled the country dry while police and politicians looked the other way. You can't understand Poland until you know what it was like to live there when the Cold War ended and everyone in this poor, icy corner of Eastern Europe was trying to get rich or die trying.

A Polish heroine and her times

Poland suffered long periods of occupation and subjugation at the hands of the powerful Russian Empire. In the early 19th century it formed an alliance with the rising star that was Napoleonic France, in the hope that by supporting the French militarily to the fullest measure they would, at last, secure the restoration of independence. With the fall of the French emperor those dreams were shattered. However, the flame of rebellion was inextinguishable in Poland, and in 1830 the Poles rose once again to try to shake off the shackles of Russian domination. Countess Emilia Plater was an ardent young revolutionary who was born in the partitioned Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1806. Gaining almost Joan of Arc-like status within her cause, she rose to the rank of captain in the Polish insurgency forces. Though she personally took part in the combat, her abiding value was as a figurehead for the revolt, and, as a woman committed to fighting for the national identity, as an inspiration to all Poles. Unwilling to capitulate and flee into exile even after it was clear that the November Uprising had failed, she decided to return to Warsaw to continue the struggle, where she unfortunately became ill and died before she could achieve her aim. Emilia Plater has, however, earned an iconic status among the Polish people which endures to this day. This Leonaur edition also includes a description of the Warsaw Uprising to add context to the main narrative.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

The author describes the loss of her home in Eastern Europe during World War II, her family's deportation to a Nazi labor camp, and their eventual arrival in the United States. Relying on historic sources, interviews with twenty survivors and personal experience, the author focuses on the danger of identifying solely with a group or ideology rather than with the fact of our shared humanity.

Exiled from her home in Eastern Poland as a baby, the author chronicles the aggression against Polish citizens by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II. For many it will be the first time hearing about the deportation of thousands to the Soviet Union for forced labor, a topic they have not met in school or in the media. Nor do they know about plans to replace Christianity and all religion with deification of Hitler and the Nazi party. The author weaves this type of information into true accounts of survival from 20 eyewitnesses whom she interviewed over the course of 10 years.

Surviving Genocide: Personal Recollections expands our knowledge of World War II, that of the attempted genocide against Slavic Christians of Eastern Europe.

Most books about surviving the war describe the struggles of one person or family. This book is different in that the people the author interviewed faced diverse and generally unknown hostile environments. For example, a family is exiled to Russia near the Arctic Circle, women toil on the Kazakhstan steppe to produce food for the Soviet army, people in the author's village of birth in what is now Belarus face winter in holes in the ground, single girls are forced to work in German factories and as domestics, and a Catholic priest is used for medical experiments in Dachau.

These survivors are primary sources who begin to demonstrate the full sweep of events as they shine a light on the dangers of identifying with a group or philosophy at the expense of our shared humanity.

Surviving Genocide: Personal Recollections contains a foreword by British historian Norman Davies, an interview with Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz, an annotated bibliography, photographs, and maps. Survivors' statements have been fact-checked and are validated by citing historic sources. The author will market the book through public speaking and use of social media platforms.

The number of World War II survivors is dwindling. Their witness will ensure a broader knowledge about a particular time and place in history.

In 1647, Poland faces destruction. It may come from without, as Tartar hordes swarm over steppes, turning cities to ash and Poles to slaves. It may come from within, as treasonous Hmelnitski leads his Cossacks in devastating revolt. Or it may come simply because the nation's leaders and nobility have become selfish, lazy, and complacent, and are ill-equipped to face the horrors coming their way. If Poland is to survive, it will depend on the heroes who rise in her time of need. With Fire And Sword is the first book of the Henryk Sienkiewicz's immortal epic trilogy. The story is set in the 17th century and follows the struggle of the kingdom of Poland to maintain its unity in the face of the Cossack-led peasant rebellion. The book well shows the passions, good and evil, which rule men. It beautifully displays the courage of doing what is noble at all costs, and graphically portrays the depths of depravity to which people can sink. The description of deeds of bravery are uplifting, those of barbaric brutality are shocking. Sienkiewicz's vivid language made it one of the most popular books about that particular place and era. This edition comes hardbound with illustrations.