Poland 1945: War and Peace

• Grzebałkowska needs all these seemingly insignificant details so that the reader feels as if they were actually taking part in the events of 1945. We are meant to feel the pain of people searching for their loved ones and the hope for a better tomorrow among small business owners advertising their goods. Throughout '1945. Wojna i pokój', one constantly senses this transitional state, the intertwining of past and future.

• Perhaps this is the book's greatest strength: its momentum in depicting postwar destinies, and a distinctive, lively narrative with a clear authorial imprint. The undeniable value of this work lies in the vivid characterizations of the micro-reportage subjects. They become remarkably distinct, real, and tangible—perhaps precisely because of the language Grzebałkowska employs.

• The war ended—the people remained, and this book is about them. The chapters on Otwock and Sanok touched me the most.

• It's impossible not to appreciate the immense work the author put into digging through the personal stories of wartime survivors and period newspapers. All these stories are extraordinarily intimate—it is easy to connect with the subjects and become engrossed in their tales. As in the finest reportages, the people here are truly flesh and blood.

• This was... an exceptional presentation of history. I particularly liked dividing the reportage into months and enriching each with newspaper classifieds from that period. It portrays the realities of people's lives in 1945 very well; history isn't just dry facts here, but seasoned with the emotions felt by witnesses at those moments, which works brilliantly to engage the reader.

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