Stalinism for All Seasons by Vladimir Tismăneanu

Reflecting on the most recent efforts to grapple with Polands Jewish history and residual guilt, this profoundly important book throws light not only on recent events, but also on the thinking of one of their most important protagonists. He calls attention to pivotal moments in which central figures like Lech Walesa and political movements like Solidarity came into being, how these movements attempted to uproot the past, and how subsequent events have ultimately challenged Polands enduring ethical legacy of morality and liberalism. Michnik asks what mistakes were made and what we can learn from climactic events in Polands past, in its literature, and the histories of Central and Eastern Europe. Composed of history, memoir, and political critique, In Search of Lost Meaning shines a spotlight on the changes in Poland and the Eastern Bloc in the post-1989 years. He writes again in opposition, this time to post-communist elites and European Union bureaucrats. Vladimir Tismaneanu, author of Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism Book Synopsis In this new collection of essays, Adam Michnik-one of Europes leading dissidents-traces the post-cold-war transformation of Eastern Europe. One may agree or disagree with Michnik, but one cannot but recognize his frankness, honesty and unswerving commitment to liberal values. In this book he responds to his opponents, adamantly defending his choices and ideals. After 1989, he has remained loyal to his values: trust, truth, tolerance.

As a dissident, he did not waver in defying the totalitarian system. Gross, author of Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland Lionized and celebrated by many, attacked and besmirched by some, Adam Michnik is a major public intellectual, a passionately lucid interpreter of post-communist ideological and political debates, a moral (not moralistic) thinker, and a courageous polemicist.

Jonathan Schell, author of The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger Yet another collection of brilliant essays by Adam Michnik, which shows again how an intellectual deeply engaged in politics can at the same time be a profound thinker. Combining personal reminiscence, deep historical learning and polemics in a style that is all his own, he widens his scope to examine issues that have afflicted not only Eastern Europe but the world since the fall of Communism: the rise of right-wing gutter politics, the impact of neo-liberal economics, the new temptations of authoritarianism even as freedom has won an historic victory. About the Book In this series of vibrant, far-reaching essays, the inimitable and indispensable Adam Michnik, leading activist and intellectual progenitor of the Solidarity movement, turns his attention to the post-Communist era.

Stalinism for All Seasons by Vladimir Tismăneanu