{"title":"Witold Szablowski","description":"\u003cp\u003eDiscover the captivating works of \u003cem\u003eWitold Szablowski\u003c\/em\u003e, a renowned Polish journalist and author known for his unique blend of storytelling that weaves together history, culture, and human experience. Szablowski's insightful narratives often explore the remnants of past political landscapes and their impact on today's society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eDancing Bears: True Stories about Longing for the Old Days\u003c\/em\u003e, Szablowski delves into the transitional period after the fall of the Soviet Union, using the poignant metaphor of dancing bears to illustrate how people adapt—or struggle to adapt—to newfound freedoms. This book is a fascinating journey through various countries that once sat behind the Iron Curtain, capturing the peculiar nostalgia and challenges encountered during times of change.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother engaging work, \u003cem\u003eWhat's Cooking in the Kremlin\u003c\/em\u003e, offers a culinary tour through the intricate and often secretive lives of the political elite in Russia. Szablowski uses the lens of food to reveal riveting insights into the power dynamics and cultural shifts within the Kremlin, making this book a deliciously informative read for enthusiasts of history and politics alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSavour the rich narratives crafted by Witold Szablowski, where the past and present collide in vivid tales that are as enlightening as they are entertaining. His books, found in Science \u0026amp; Nature as well as History \u0026amp; Military categories, offer a deep dive into the less-explored aspects of geopolitical transitions and their human consequences.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"whats-cooking-in-the-kremlin","title":"What's Cooking in the Kremlin","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eA New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e Editors’ Choice\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“Entertaining . . . A heady mix of propaganda and paranoia . . . [Szabłowski writes] sensitively . . . not just about food but also its terrible absence.” —\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“Riveting—a delicious odyssey full of history, humor, and jaw-dropping stories. If you want to understand the making of modern Russia, read this book.” —Daniel Stone, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Food Explorer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA high-spirited, eye-opening, appetite-whetting culinary travel adventure that \u003cstrong\u003etells the story of the last hundred years of Russian power through food,\u003c\/strong\u003e by an award-winning Polish journalist who’s been praised by both Timothy Snyder and Bill Buford.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the gonzo spirit of Anthony Bourdain and Hunter S. Thompson, Witold Szabłowski has tracked down—and broken bread with—people whose stories of working in Kremlin kitchens impart a surprising flavour to our understanding of one of the world’s superpowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn revealing what Tsar Nicholas II’s and Lenin’s favourite meals were, why Stalin’s cook taught Gorbachev’s cook to sing to his dough, how Stalin had a food tester while he was starving the Ukrainians during the Great Famine, what the recipe was for the first soup flown into outer space, why Brezhnev hated caviar, what was served to the Soviet Union’s leaders at the very moment they decided the USSR should cease to exist, and whether Putin’s grandfather really did cook for Lenin and Stalin, Szabłowski has written a fascinating oral history—complete with recipes and photos—of Russia’s evolution from culinary indifference to decadence, famine to feasts, and of the Kremlin’s Olympics-style preoccupation with food as an expression of the country’s global standing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTravelling across Stalin’s Georgia, the war fronts of Afghanistan, the nuclear wastelands of Chornobyl, and even to a besieged steelworks plant in Mariupol—often with one-of-a-kind access to locales forbidden to foreign eyes, and with a rousing sense of adventure and an inimitable ability to get people to spill the tea—he shows that a century after the revolution, Russia still uses food as an instrument of war and feeds its people on propaganda.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Ingram Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45799080460524,"sku":"9780143137184","price":45.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780143137184.jpg?v=1728227432"},{"product_id":"dancing-bears-true-stories-about-longing-for-the-old-days-by-antonia-lloyd-jones-9781925603361","title":"Dancing Bears: True Stories about Longing for the Old Days","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncisive, humorous and heartbreaking oral histories of people living in formerly Communist countries holding fast to their former lives, from one of Poland's finest journalists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA brilliant, funny and heartbreaking account of people in formerly Communist countries who are nostalgic for how they used to live.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor hundreds of years, Bulgarian Gypsies trained bears to dance, welcoming them into their families and taking them on the road to perform. In the early 2000s, after the fall of Communism, they were forced to release the bears into a wildlife refuge. But, even today, whenever the bears see a human, they still get up on their hind legs to dance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the tradition of Ryszard Kapuscinski, award-winning Polish journalist Witold Szablowski tells remarkable stories of people throughout Eastern Europe and in Cuba who, like Bulgaria's dancing bears, are now free but long for when they were not. He describes hitchhiking through Kosovo as it declares independence, arguing with the guides at the Stalin Museum, and sleeping in London's Victoria Station alongside a homeless Polish woman. \u003cem\u003eDancing Bears\u003c\/em\u003e is a fascinating portrait of social and economic upheaval, and a lesson in the challenges of freedom and the seductions of authoritarian rule.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46342594101484,"sku":"9781925603361","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16358943482873.jpg?v=1743922926"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/witold-szablowski.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}