Jerzy Andrzejewski is one of the best-known Polish novelists of the twentieth century. Highly popular in his own country, he has also achieved international recognition: his fiction has been translated into almost all European languages as well as Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, and Mongolian. Andrzej Wajda's successful 1958 motion-picture production of Andrzejewski's most controversial novel, Popiól i diament (1948; translated as Ashes and Diamonds, 1962), has reinforced this standing. Always receptive to the moral and political problems of his time, Andrzejewski aimed at conclusions general enough to rouse international interest. His moral authority was undoubtedly enhanced by his political involvement in the dissident movement of the 1970s, which in the long run contributed to the rise of Solidarity and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Andrzejewski was a novelist of many artistic inspirations and fluctuating political affiliations; his literary career reflects the predicament of twentieth-century writers, particularly those in...