A Diplomat’s Inside Look

For half a century the author was a diplomat in various historical eras, under very different regimes, where he had a backstage view of big and small politics in the international arena.

Vividly recalling his diplomatic ascension starting in Podolia and then in Śląsk Opolski, he talks about the positives and negatives of the Foreign Service, both in the communist era and in a free Poland. He writes about serious issues, illustrating them with many actors, events and numerous fascinating anecdotes.

His recollections comprise behind the scenes diplomacy, his personal story as well as his generation’s, communist Poland, the exciting period of transformation and finally the Third Republic. He has dealt with some of the world’s greats, including royals, such as the Sultan of Zanzibar, the King of Spain and the King of Belgium. Other outstanding international figures on his list include the legendary Che Guevara, David Rockefeller, the notorious terrorist Shamil Basayev, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Chirac of France. He has also worked alongside some the main strategists of Polish foreign policy, including Krzysztof Skubiszewski, Bronislaw Geremek and Wladyslaw Bartoszewski. And as a close friend of the late Ryszard Kapuściński, he has met many famous personalities in the arts and culture, both Polish and foreign. He is also the only diplomat to have served as Ambassador in both the Warsaw Pact and NATO.

His recollections are largely both a testament of our history, culture and politics, as well as his personal life and the struggle with his own fate at the crossroads of two different historical periods.