Pilgrimage: A Memoir of Poland and Rome.

First edition of this memoir of Michener's travels in Poland and Rome. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed and dated by James Michener on the title page and signed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa on the introduction page. Lech Wałęsa is a Polish labor leader and statesman who co-founded Solidarity, the first independent trade union in the Soviet bloc, which became a driving force in the struggle against communist rule. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, he later served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995, playing a central role in the country’s transition to democracy. As president of the United States, Reagan pursued a hardline stance against the Soviet Union, using both military buildup and rhetoric—such as his famous 1987 appeal to “tear down this wall”—to pressure the Eastern Bloc. In Poland, Lech Wałęsa’s leadership of the Solidarity movement mobilized workers and intellectuals against communist rule, weakening Soviet influence in Eastern Europe by demonstrating the power of grassroots resistance. Together, Reagan’s external pressure and Wałęsa’s internal challenge represented complementary forces that strained the legitimacy and resources of the Soviet system. These dynamics contributed to the end of the Cold War in 1991 and the symbolic turning point of the Berlin Wall’s fall on November 9, 1989, marking the collapse of communist control in Eastern Europe. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Cover design by Anita G. Patterson. Cover illustration by Patti Rutman. Introduction by Lech Walesa.