This text examines the development of the Polish environmental movement as a lens through which to understand the reconstruction of civil society and the adaptation of a social movement to new political institutions. The book focuses on the period between Solidarity's formation in 1980 and the first years after the establishment of a Solidarity-led government in 1989. It argues that environmental groups, as a form of independent collective action aimed at changing official policies and institutions, were part of the larger social transformations that undermined communist rule.

Philip Leacock directs this 1960s British film exploring a childhood friendship threatened by a religious divide. Michael O'Malley (Philip Needs), a young Catholic boy, and Rachel Mathias (Loretta Parry), a young Jewish girl, become friends when the former rescues the latter from schoolyard bullies. With both considered outsiders in Protestant England, a strong basis exists for a bond between the pair. However, in their innocence, Michael and Rachel become friends in spite of, rather than because of, their family backgrounds. Distraught when Rachel's parents declare that they are moving away, the pair set off on an adventure that may well change their lives forever...