A translation of a book that has been widely appreciated in Europe but is completely unknown to Poles, written by an Austrian specialist in Slovonic studies and researcher of the Polish culture.

A translation of a book that has been widely appreciated in Europe but is completely unknown to Poles, written by an Austrian specialist in Slovonic studies and researcher of the Polish culture. The author demonstrates a variety of contexts that promoted the true image and the idealisticimage of Austria among polich artists and intellectuals. The book also shows how Galicia, once a territory annexed by Austria, was transformed into a myth and a symbol, on the one hand standing for freedom(limited as it was) and cultural development, but on the other hand burdened with connotions of a backward civilisation.

Polish version