The Poles

By Ewa Lipniacka

What makes the Poles POLISH: A guide to understanding the Poles that displays their true personality with perception and affection.

Only a Pole would try to convince check-in staff at an airport that a microwave constitutes hand luggage.

Reviews

‘A must for every Pole of any generation. I first read this book travelling by coach to Poland and I laughed and laughed all the way there. I laughed so much that I ached. I am sure people on the coach thought I was totally deranged. It was almost impossible to put the book down. So much of it reflected my own experiences.’
Reviewer from the UK
‘Would you like a concise primer on the Polish psyche? On the way to Poland get the background material you need to understand the Polish people. Slightly irreverent but right to the point you get the entire picture of what makes this nation tick.
Review from www.polartcenter.com
‘A real gem. If you are an anglicised Pole, of Polish descent or just know a Polish person intimately this little book is a delightful read. It will make you smile, if not laugh out loud, with every page.’ Review from ‘a Pole in the UK’
‘Humorous and enlightening. As an introduction to the Poles this is really useful. It has contributed to our market knowledge and helped to develop customer service strategies and new product development and branding for all of our staff. Superb series.’
Reviewer from Cambridgeshire, UK
‘Utterly brilliant and to the point book. You have to love it! Very well written and accurate. I am Polish myself and enjoyed having our peculiar habits described and analyzed. If you ever wonder why we Polish seem so weird, get this book and realise that we are even weirder than you dreamed.’ Reviewed by Jan PS

If you would like to comment or submit a review on the Xenophobe’s Guide to the Poles please do so in the box to the right.

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Links to make you laugh

25 facts about Poland that you didn’t know

About the author

The Lipniackis arrived in Britain (via Kazakhstan and Palestine) when Ewa was three. Educated in a Polish convent boarding school in Northamptonshire, she went so far as to take a degree in Polish at London University.

In her late teens she was one of the first English Poles to set out to rediscover the real Poland, and found a vast family stretching from the Wol´omin Poles to the Poles of Cze˛stochowa. She has been extending this family web ever since and supplementing it with a network of friends.

A naturalised Willesden Pole, she maintains close links with the Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Rugby and Galashiels Poles. Her home has become a central node on the Polish world trade routes linking the Warsaw, Kraków, Poznan´ and Gdan´ sk Poles with the New York, Toronto, Melbourne, Venezuelan and Brazilian Poles. Like bindweed, Polish roots are long and indestructible.

A librarian by profession, she has written several rarefied works on librarianship and a clutch of children’s picture books – most of which are illustrated by her cousin, a Balham Pole.