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
Will the green agenda be killed off by the pandemic?
‘Will the green agenda be killed off by the longer-term coronavirus recovery? Or might the closure of so much business, and the cleaner air that results from planes not flying and factories not working, give us extra years to gain control of our environment?’
Why T.S. Eliot still matters
His contemporaries’ reputations have diminished. But Eliot’s has grown: he is the poet who shows us what can be saved from the ruins
Music’s in the house
Rappers have found a role in lockdown: chronicling coronavirus with topical tunes. Most people, though, are rushing to the safety of the past