Using sources from the Polish underground press of the late 1970s, this is a detailed account of the movement for democracy in Poland prior to the birth of the Solidarity trade union. The text stresses the work of the important activist groups that began the democratic process. With theoretical sophistication and careful examination of historical detail, Michael Bernhard shows how workers and intellectuals together contributed to the making of democratic politics in East Central Europe. For all those interested in understanding the collapse of commu nism, [this] is a must. -- Jeffrey Goldfarb The New School for Social Research