Stalin's fascination with writers was fully reciprocated as the many 'Odes to Stalin' show. During the 1970s a hugely elaborated system was established for the regulation of belles-lettres based on institutions, ideas and individuals. This original study, ten years in preparation, is based on extensive access to Soviet archives. Much new evidence has been uncovered about the inner workings of cultural policy in the Stalin period and documents by Stalin himself are published for the first time.

This book describes the origins and birth of Solidarity in 1980, its rebirth in 1989, and the formation of a Solidarity government. This second edition is now enlarged to include fresh documentation of the 1980 strike, a further mmoire on the experts' role 'behind the scenes', and an entirely new chapter 'From Gdansk to Government'. Taken together, the analysis and documentation provide a permanent record of Eastern Europe's first breakthrough into post-communism.