Showing results for "We" in Eastern

Decades ago, the historian Bernard Wasserstein set out to uncover the hidden past of the town forty miles west of Lviv where his family, especially his grandfather Berl, originated: Krakowiec (Krah-KOV-yets). In this book he recounts its dramatic and traumatic history. 'I want to observe and understand how some of the great forces that determined the shape of our times affected ordinary people.'

Michał Ogórek meticulously recreates the picture of Poland that used to be drawn during the particular periods of the 100 years of Polish independence: Poland of Piłsudski, Rydz-Śmigły, Bierut, Gomułka, Gierek, Jaruzelski, Wałęsa, and Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński. The more worshiped each of the leaders were, the more painful their demise usually was. The magnitude of the leaders' worship caused people to cry out of emotion, and later out of disappointment and anger. But this book will only make you cry out of laughter.

Not too many people realize that the story of Dracula was based on a really sadistic ruler in Romania. Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad the Third, was a merciless despot who tried to make an example out of his opponents by impaling them and displaying them in public. He also enjoyed bathing in dead people’s blood and did some other gross, inhumane things. He was the terror of Eastern Europe for many years.