Set in Poland in the turbulent months between the birth of Solidarity and the imposition of Martial Law, Eugene Hinks, a teacher of English, finds himself witness to events that begin the destruction of communism and the reshaping of Europe.

Battling with hunger, struggling with a relationship made complicated by politics, beset in the classroom by spies and police informers, Hinks runs an illegal radio monitoring service for the opposition and keeps a wary eye on the chaos around him.

This is no ordinary tale - it takes the reader inside a country at war with itself.

Time Out said:
'Unforgettable...
a brilliant observer...
like the great Ryszard Kapuscinski, the writer puts you there...'

The Whitbread Award Judges said:
'A highly evocative, tragic-comic account of Poland in the Solidarity era with Tighe expertly taking the reader into lives made up of endless queuing, incomprehensible bureaucracy and human encounters that are both touching and surreal.'