This book is a survey of Polish letters and culture from its beginnings to modern times. Czeslaw Milosz updated this edition in 1983 and added an epilogue to bring the discussion up to date.

Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) was born in Lithuania and was Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1980 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

"Highly readable. . . . [Milosz has] a keen understanding of the social, political, and ideological isues, and he therefore brings a breadth of vision and independence of judgment into his exposition of Poland's literature and its historical setting."—Adam Czerniawski, New Statesman

"This textbook does what all such should do, but which most do not, inspires the reader to further study of the subject."—S. A. Haffner, Library Journal