Poland
Poland’s Grand Panjandrum
It is hard to engage seriously with Adam Michnik’s scattered collection of essays
Communist-Free
I taught English in Poland in the 1960s and can safely say there were virtually no Communists in the country
Pole Position
This year could mark the coming of age of Poland as a musical nation. What took so long?
To One War, 55 Marks
This year’s war on expenses is nothing compared to the one started in 1939 – World War II
Katyn Denial
Residual guilt about this Soviet atrocity may be preventing Andrzej Wajda’s film Katyn from getting the coverage it deserves in Britain
From Treblinka to Tannenberg
A tour through Eastern Poland uncovers the wreckage of German military might
How I Rewrote Polish History
Poland used to be written off as a failed state. But it has survived Nazism and communism to become a model for Europe
Classic Teller of Painful Truths
The Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert, whose collected work is now available in English for the first time, crystallised the ravages of invasion and communist rule in his quest to tell the truth about pain
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal