The author tells a fascinating story of this church as a part of broader issues of religion's accommodation to demands of secular politics . . . The research base is extensive, including documents from Polish state archives, published sources, and newspapers and magazines of the period. * The Catholic Historical Review * The Polish Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century and Beyond: Prisoner of History is the best treatment of the subject in English and represents an important contribution to our understanding of the complex political, religious, and ethnic history of Eastern Europe. -- Tom Sakmyster, University of Cincinnati This fascinating work concisely examines the historical development of the Polish Orthodox Church, the second largest faith in Poland since World War II. It focuses on the achievements and legacies of this resilient institution, beset by a host of political and religious challenges throughout history, yet supremely adept at adapting to its surroundings in order to defend and advance its interests. The author, an expert on Polish and East European history, draws on an extensive array of resources-Polish state archives, published documents, periodicals, secondary sources-to clarify the various political and religious obstacles facing the Polish Orthodox Church and to probe the reasons for its endurance before, during, and after communist rule. Poised to chart new horizons and to meet fresh challenges, the Polish Orthodox Church of today engages in multiple educational, charitable, missionary, and publishing endeavors, a sure sign of its sound organization, structure, and leadership. This eminently readable work on an important but largely neglected topic-a major contribution to the historical literature-will appeal to a broad audience of scholars and students in the fields of Polish, Ukrainian, and East European history and to specialists on religion, ethnicity, nationality, and church history. -- Theophilus C. Prousis, University of North Florida