Synopses & Reviews
Renowned Eastern European author Adam Michnik was jailed for more than six years by the communist regime in Poland for his dissident activities. He was an outspoken voice for democracy in the world divided by the Iron Curtain and has remained so to the present day. In this thoughtful and provocative work, the man the
Financial Times named one of the 20 most influential journalists in the world” strips fundamentalism of its religious component and examines it purely as a secular political phenomenon.
Comparing modern-day Poland with postrevolutionary France, Michnik offers a stinging critique of the ideological virus of fundamentalism” often shared by emerging democracies: the belief that, by using techniques of intimidating public opinion, a state governed by sinless individuals” armed with a doctrine of the only correct means of organizing human relations can build a world without sin. Michnik employs deep historical analysis and keen political observation in his insightful five-point philosophical meditation on morality in public life, ingeniously expounding on history, religion, moral thought, and the present political climate in his native country and throughout Europe.
Review
“An Uncanny Era is an excellent read, and will have exceptional intellectual and political import.”—Iván Zoltán Dénes, Founding President, István Bibó Center for Advanced Studies of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Budapest Iv���n Zolt���n D���nes
Review
"An approach to the historical memory of political transitions that is at once inclusive and comprehensive"—Piotr H. Kosicki, The Nation
Review
‘Paradoxically the great inspirer and strategist, whose ideas and energy have done much to to help Poland become perhaps the most dynamic country in Europe while retaining a democracy, seems to see himself as a lonely fighter against both fanaticism and greed.’—
Survival.
Review
“Michnik reads history three-dimensionally, with one eye on the past and the other on the present. It’s a pleasure to watch him at work . . . . I see Michnik as an almost Miltonic figure, who understands that the greatness of a country . . . lies not in its military might, but in its capacity, even in a time of war and grave external threats, to engage in fearless, unfettered public debate about the great ideas of the day.”—Paul Wilson, The New York Review of Books
Synopsis
A brilliant meditation on politics, morality, and history from one of the most courageous and controversial authors of our age
Synopsis
A brilliant meditation on politics, morality, and history from one of the most courageous and controversial authors of our age
Renowned Eastern European author Adam Michnik was jailed for more than six years by the communist regime in Poland for his dissident activities. He was an outspoken voice for democracy in the world divided by the Iron Curtain and has remained so to the present day. In this thoughtful and provocative work, the man the Financial Times named one of the 20 most influential journalists in the world strips fundamentalism of its religious component and examines it purely as a secular political phenomenon.
Comparing modern-day Poland with postrevolutionary France, Michnik offers a stinging critique of the ideological virus of fundamentalism often shared by emerging democracies: the belief that, by using techniques of intimidating public opinion, a state governed by sinless individuals armed with a doctrine of the only correct means of organizing human relations can build a world without sin. Michnik employs deep historical analysis and keen political observation in his insightful five-point philosophical meditation on morality in public life, ingeniously expounding on history, religion, moral thought, and the present political climate in his native country and throughout Europe."
About the Author
Adam Michnik is editor-in-chief of the Warsaw daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He is a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the Imre Nagy Award, and the Goethe Prize, among many other honors. His previous books include Letters from Prison, Letters from Freedom, and In Search of Lost Meaning: The New Eastern Europe. Irena Grudzinska Gross teaches East European literature at Princeton University. Her most recent books are Golden Harvest with Jan T. Gross and Czeslaw Milosz and Joseph Brodsky: Fellowship of Poets.