Originally published in 1985, this study by Polish authors was the first in the English language to cover Poland's economic development from 1900 to the mid-1980s and it was published at a time when the Polish economy was in crisis and before the fall of the Iron Curtain. The book presents a detailed and penetrating analysis of the Polish economy. It charts the various stages of Poland's development from the rule of the Three Black Eagles - Russia, Austria and Prussia, to the effects of the Great Depression, through Nazi occupation to the inflation and economic decline of the late-twentieth century. For each period, besides economic and monetary factors, the authors survey aspects of the effects of economic growth on social mobility and career perception, public health education and technology, backed up with comprehensive statistical data.