In late August of 1989, I arrived in Poland for the first of two years of Senior Fulbright Lectureships in American Studies at the University of Łódź. These were years of remarkable political and economic changes in Poland (and throughout the former East Bloc), transformations which interested people everywhere, including folks back in the United States. A couple of newspapers requested articles, which I wrote on a manual typewriter I bought in Poland and mailed via Polish Postage back to the States, but always in the back of my mind was the idea of a book on Poland. After all, my U. S. professorship and my Fulbright fellowship were based partly on my publications, both scholarly and popular, in journals, magazines, and books. The material is there, right outside your door, David—grab your notebook and camera, and get busy.