Book excerpt: In 1989, Poland became the first Eastern Bloc country to shake off the dominance of its ruling Communist party. Although other post-Communist countries have since followed suit, Poland's experience has been unique in its move to Westernize. In this timely and insightful account, Ben Slay provides the first integrated, comprehensive assessment of Poland's economic transformation from central planning to a market system, and the political and sociological factors that have contributed to it. Drawing on the work of Western and Polish scholars as well as his own research, Slay traces the evolution of the Polish transformation from its historical roots in People's Poland and predicts potential problems and successes facing the Polish economy. A ground-breaking addition to the emerging study of post- Communist political economies, The Polish Economy demonstrates that other countries now struggling to join the West have much to learn from Poland's example. Of interest to scholars across the social sciences, this work provides general as well as professional readers with a compelling account of the realities behind one of the most important events of our time--the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.