A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe 1989
The stunning events of 1989 have been described many times by  both the participants and the foreign journalists on the scene.  Unlike other accounts, this work focuses on the many dissident  groups who quickly put their many years of organization and  opposition skills to good use as soon as they perceived regime  weakness and who mobilized the seemingly spontaneous street  demonstrations. Kenney (Univ. of Colorado) was a graduate  student researcher in Wrocl/aw, Poland, in 1986 and 1989, where  he observed the many groups that protested (often successfully)  environmental and other issues not immediately threatening to  the regime. Others channeled their energies into underground  rock music or theater groups. Such groups were active in most  Eastern European capitals, and their leaders were able to travel  frequently to other cities, spreading their successful ideas and  tactics. Using oral history techniques and underground  literature, Kenney has woven together stories of many  individuals, disillusioned by the martial law decrees in Poland  in 1981, who went underground to continue their protests, then  emerged as a highly organized and stunning festival of street  theater to topple several regimes. This new approach is a  valuable contribution to the topic and will appeal to both  historians and political scientists. Marcia L. Sprules, Council  on Foreign Relations Lib., New YorkCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.