The title of the book is as accurate and as succinct of a description as is possible, it would seem. Wielka Księga Demonów Polskich, which translates to The Great Book of Polish Demons, is just that — although I hesitate to use "just", even idiomatically. At 559 pages, it's difficult to call anything "just a book", even more so in this case, where Ms. Podgórska has done a superb job of tracking down and compiling the available remnants of Polish demonology from all available sources, from the libraries to the countryfolk.

Following the Jewish exodus post-WWII, Poland found itself (for the first time in history) a staggeringly 99% Roman Catholic country (this all the more notable considering the Communist-controlled government officially did not formally allow religious belief). All good and well for Catholicism, no doubt, but not quite so fabulous for any other belief system, such as Slavic paganism or other localized, ancient rituals. So it is with both awe and gratitude that we receive the author's work, as the dearth of a decent compendium of the sort had made the subject effectively lost to all but the luckiest few in academia or in the closer circles of those who continued to practice these beliefs.

If you have an interest in the comparative ancient mythologies of Central Europe, you could hardly do better than to explore this fine book, and so check off the little empty box in your Reading List next to your entry for Poland.

Recommended. 559 pages. In Polish.