This month's Book World features Solidarity leader Lech Walesa's autobiography, A Way of Hope. As Walesa's story makes clear, Poland's Solidarity is more than an independent trade union movement: It is a movement of national liberation. Led by Walesa, Solidarity is more than an independent trade union movement: it is a movement of national liberation. Led by Walesa, Solidarity is the largest sustained nonviolent liberation movement to oppose communism. The World & I explores both Walesa's own vision and how he is seen by other Solidarity activists, a lively and diversified political, cultural, and intellectual group. The writers and artists appearing here are Polish and are actively involved with Solidarity.
·Excerpts from A Way of Hope by Lech Walesa
The leader of Solidarity tells the story of his life.
The World & I excerpts from every chapter of the story: Walesa's youth, his life as a worker in the Gdansk shipyards, the 1970 strike that thrust Walesa into prominence as a labor leader, the exploitation of workers in the 1970s, the 1980 strike that culminated in the legalization of Solidarity, and the declaration of martial law that forced Solidarity underground, where it remains today.
·Commentaries on Lech Walesa's A Way of Hope
Peter Mrocyzk, in "The Man and the Movement," explains how Walesa's life contributes to an understanding of Solidarity. Mrocyzk, formerly head of Solidarity in Polish radio and television, is presently head of Solidarity Endowment, a nonprofit Washington, D.C., organization that raises money for the Solidarity underground.
Jozef Ruszar, in "Every One of You Is Walesa," writes about the Solidarity generation. He tells the story of groups that, while not highly visible in Walesa's autobiography, were important in the creation of Solidarity. Ruszar, a journalist for Radio Free Europe, worked in the Polish underground press and, earlier, organized students in Cracow in support of Solidarity.
Jan Gross, in "Memoirs of Lech Walesa," stresses the way the structure of the book, which includes passages written by people other than Walesa, relates to other books by the Polish opposition. Gross also shows how Walesa's life reveals Poland's roots in the international community. Gross, a Polish scholar, has written on a variety of Polish human rights topics.
·Reviews of books published by the Polish under ground press
To make the current situation in Poland more understandable, this month's Book World also reviews popular, important Polish books published by the underground press that have not yet been translated into English.
"Public Responsibilities," by well-known Polish writer Zdzislaw Najder, discusses the nature of the Polish underground press and the lives of writers under communism. Najder reviews two books: Term of Office by Jan Jozef Szczepanski, the story of the suppression of the independent Polish writers' union; and Domestic Disgrace by Jacek Trznadel, a book of interviews with Polish writers, including many who collaborated with the communist regime.
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