The Polish Challenge
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image.
At a pivotal moment in Cold War history, The Polish Challenge chronicles the dramatic rise of Solidarity — the mass trade union movement that dared to confront the might of Soviet-backed communist rule in Poland — and the extraordinary human struggle that unfolded behind the Iron Curtain. Kevin Ruane reconstructs the turbulent events of the early 1980s with forensic clarity, charting the social upheaval, political brinkmanship, and the courage of ordinary Polish citizens who gripped the bars of an authoritarian system and refused to let go. The book presents a vivid panorama of a nation in crisis, set against the backdrop of economic collapse and the looming shadow of martial law declared by General Jaruzelski in December 1981. Ruane writes with the authority of a seasoned journalist and the analytical rigour of a historian, weaving together eyewitness testimony, political analysis, and cultural context to illuminate the deeper forces — nationalism, Catholicism, and an unbreakable will for self-determination — that fuelled Poland's resistance. The Polish Challenge stands as a vital document of one of the twentieth century's most consequential popular uprisings, one that would ultimately help unravel the fabric of the Eastern Bloc itself. For anyone seeking to understand how a shipyard worker's movement in Gdańsk shook the foundations of a superpower, this account remains as urgent and compelling as ever.
Author: Kevin Ruane
Format: Paperback
Published: 1982, BBC Books
Genre: European history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image.
At a pivotal moment in Cold War history, The Polish Challenge chronicles the dramatic rise of Solidarity — the mass trade union movement that dared to confront the might of Soviet-backed communist rule in Poland — and the extraordinary human struggle that unfolded behind the Iron Curtain. Kevin Ruane reconstructs the turbulent events of the early 1980s with forensic clarity, charting the social upheaval, political brinkmanship, and the courage of ordinary Polish citizens who gripped the bars of an authoritarian system and refused to let go. The book presents a vivid panorama of a nation in crisis, set against the backdrop of economic collapse and the looming shadow of martial law declared by General Jaruzelski in December 1981. Ruane writes with the authority of a seasoned journalist and the analytical rigour of a historian, weaving together eyewitness testimony, political analysis, and cultural context to illuminate the deeper forces — nationalism, Catholicism, and an unbreakable will for self-determination — that fuelled Poland's resistance. The Polish Challenge stands as a vital document of one of the twentieth century's most consequential popular uprisings, one that would ultimately help unravel the fabric of the Eastern Bloc itself. For anyone seeking to understand how a shipyard worker's movement in Gdańsk shook the foundations of a superpower, this account remains as urgent and compelling as ever.