In this rare treatise from 1939, a British observer who traveled in Poland shortly before World War Two broke out gives a telling account of the historical, economic, social and political conditions in this country. The ethnographic patchwork nature of the Republic of Poland, the Poles' violation of their treaty obligations with respect to the Free City of Danzig, and the comprehensive repression of the ethnic minorities (German and other) in Poland continue to be downplayed or denied outright today, yet Colonna shows that these were major factors in precipitating the Second World War.