The Spectator, 1989
Spectators for Poland
(and Czechoslovakia and . . .)
I am one of the Polish readers who have benefited by the splendid idea of sending The Spectator to Poland. I would like to thank you for this kind and thoughtful initiative, not only in my own name, but also in the name of all my friends with whom I share every issue of your excellent magazine.
I represent an oppositional political group called Samostanowienie (Self-determination)... Over the last decade, opposition in Poland has grown considerably, both in strength and in number, and there is a great renaissance of conservative thought, especially among young people (the average age of our group's members is 33). Consequently, a number of conservative journals and other publications appear underground, among them our group's own magazine, Samostanowienie.
The editors of those publications find The Spectator, as well as other foreign language periodicals, extremely helpful in their editorial job, not only as food for thought, but also as a source of articles to translate. Almost every issue of your magazine contains one article which finds its way, in the Polish version, to one or another underground periodical.
Stanislaw Plewako, Warsaw