The Struggle and the Triumph: An Autobiography

Lech Walesa literally reset the world on its axis. In a stroke of irony, Poland was the first country to break the 1955 Warsaw Pact. Lech Walesa impresses me as a good man and, like President Carter is truly a humble peacemaker. A shipyard worker, Walesa strove to form unions on the docks; in the mills and in the factories. Unlike Imre Nagy, another good man and a Freedom Fighter who was killed in Hungary in 1954, Walesa took baby steps to effect change. Whereas Nagy took the "remove Russian occupation from Hungary at all costs and install democracy" in one fell swoop, Walesa took a more circumspect and prudent approach. Instead of trying to remove all obstacles at one time, he tried to institute changes in the workplaces. Once dock workers and factory and mill workers had unions, the voting process could be moved into elected offices. Poland was, up until 1989 under communist regime. It has an interesting history. During WWI, Poland, then a landlocked territory was granted part of eastern Germany. The former German city Danzig is now Poland's Gdansk and the portion of Germany that has been annexed to Poland has not only increased the size of the country, but provided Poland access to the ocean. For many years Poland was recognized as a territory and not a nation. Lech Walesa's father, the late Bronislaw Walesa vowed in 1945 that there would come a day when he would see a free Poland where Polish citizens would have the option to vote for the candiates they wanted to see in office and not go through the formality of seeing the same people installed in the same positions of power. Sadly, Bronislaw Walesa never lived to see that happen. His son Lech Walesa was the person who was largely responsible for effecting change. Lech Walesa's 4 sons and 4 daughters will live that dream by voting as free Polish citizens. The Beatles' 1968 classic "Revolution" can clearly be the soundtrack of this wonderful book. "We all want to change the world" - so true in this case! Walesa is a realistic, humble and practical man with a delightful wit. Throughout his successes and setbacks, he has kept his humor and realistic outlook. In 1980, Walesa and a band of Polish freedom fighers got together to form the Solidarity Party. Using computers smuggled into Poland from England, Germany and the U.S., the Solidarity supporters held secret meetings in churches and people's homes. They made concerted efforts to gain support for effecting political changes in Poland and their movement picked up speed. Sadly, Walesa was jailed for one year during the 1980s. Still, his voice was heard and his word spead. Pope John Paul II threw his voice, prayers and support behind Walesa and backed him all the way. By 1987, Walesa's voice was ringing clear and strong around the world and people outside of Poland became more aware of the new political climate that was rapidly moving into Poland. By 1988, the Solidarity Workers were a strong force to be reckoned

Everyone should read this book. I like that Walesa has a great sense of humor. His humor seems to say that he is not affected by his super-heroesque accomplishment and is a very warm and approachable person. Walesa, started the downfall of communisn with the Solidarity movement in Poland. Pope John Paul II got on board to support, adding incredible drive and inspiration. These two Polish men changed History forever and for the better. Many countries going through or about to, have asked Lech Walesa for advice,i.e., Cuba for starters. This book makes you want to go out there and make the world better. Highly motivational; Great read!

Lech Walesa's autobiography is exceptional. It was great reading about a brave man who did not use violence to turn the tides not also in Poland, but he also was a very important figure in world peace and he was one of the reasons why the cold war ended. The book had a lot of humor which kept me wanting to read more. A must.