Lech Wałęsa Livres

Walesa's autobiography provides a firsthand, inside history of Solidarity from 1984 to the present, as seen and told by its founder, the recently elected president of Poland. Here is the lively tale of the impassioned young electrician's rise from the Gdansk shipyard to the presidency, and of the events that ushered Poland into a new age. 8 pages of photographs.

Walesa achieved fame in August 1980 when shipyard workers in Gdansk won the right to form a free trade union. In this long-awaited autobiography, he gives his unique insider perspective on Solidarity, the events leading to its formation and its fall. Concentrating on 1980-81, Walesa covers only briefly shipyard working conditions before 1980 and his internment after 1981. Mary Craig's Lech Walesa and His Poland ( LJ 9/15/87) places the events in context more fully. Despite all that he has endured, Walesa remains optimistic about the future. His insights make this a valuable book for most collections.--Marcia L. Sprules, Univ. of South Dakota Library.

Lech Wałęsa, der erste Vorsitzende der Gewerkschaft Solidarność, Nobelpreisträger für Frieden, Präsident der Dritten Republik Polen und Ehrenbürger der Stadt Gdańsk, begann 1967 als Schiffs-Elektriker im Lenin-Werft in Gdańsk, Polen (damals Volksrepublik Polen). In den folgenden 20 Jahren führte er Streiks, wurde interniert und ging in den Untergrund, wo er weiterhin die massiv einflussreiche Solidarność-Bewegung organisierte, die schließlich zum Ende der kommunistischen Herrschaft in Polen führte.