Xavras Wyżryn (polish pronunciation: [ˈksävräs ˈvɨ̞ʐrɨ̞̃n]) is an alternate history novel by the Polish science fiction writer Jacek Dukaj, published in 1997. Considered one of the best Polish alternate history novels, it discusses Polish martyrology, circling on the philosophical aspects of war, shows the thin line between terrorism and freedom fighters. It has lots of action, which makes it a member of a military science fiction genre. The story's divergence point is set during the Polish–Soviet War by ending in a decisive Soviet victory. The actual story takes place in the 1990s and is told from the point of view of an American reporter, who is an embedded journalist with the anti-Soviet Polish resistance. In 1996, a young American reporter, Ian Smith, is sent by his news network to the Soviet republic of Poland, to document guerrilla actions of Polish freedom fighters against the Soviet regime. His task includes interviewing the charimastic leader of Polish Freedom Army, Colonel Xavras Wyżryn. Smith does not realize that during his long trip from Ukrainian steppes to Moscow along with hardened veterans of Polish forces, he will experience the horror of war in which there is no good and evil side. He also expect to find himself in the midst of the most reckless of Wyżryn's campaigns in which the Polish forces capture a Soviet atomic bomb and start to smuggle it towards Moscow. Editions The story has had two editions. It was first published in 1997, in a book entitled Xavras Wyżryn, which contained the title story with a second one, "Zanim Noc" ("Before the Night"). In 2004, the story was reprinted in Xavras Wyżryn i inne fikcje narodowe (Xavras Wyżryn and Other National Fictions) and was this time accompanied by the following three short stories: "Sprawa Rudryka Z." ("The Case of Rudryk Z."), "Przyjaciel prawdy" ("Friend of the Truth") and "Gotyk" ("Gothic"). Summary Backstory After World War I, Poland managed to regain its freedom but not for long since the Polish–Soviet War was lost in 1920. Poland became a Soviet republic, along with the Ukraine and the Baltic states. In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin quickly took the chair of first secretary, and his regime tried to eradicate the Polish culture to prevent any Polish uprisings of the kind that had shaken the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Thousands of Polish civilians were sent to Siberia. Speaking Polish or using the