The Pianist (Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Edition): The Extraordinary True Story of One Man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945

The 75th Anniversary Edition of the memoir that inspired Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning film, with a new introduction by Szpilman’s son, Andrzej

On September 23, 1939, Wladyslaw Szpilman played Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor live on the radio as shells exploded outside–so loudly that he couldn’t hear his piano. It was the last live music broadcast from Warsaw: That day, a German bomb hit the station, and Polish Radio went off the air.

Though he lost his entire family, Szpilman survived in hiding. In the end, his life was saved by a German officer who heard him play the same Chopin Nocturne on a piano found among the rubble. Written immediately after the war and suppressed for decades, The Pianist is a stunning testament to human endurance and the redemptive power of fellow feeling.

Author: Wladyslaw Szpilman
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Picador USA
Published: 12/31/2019
Pages: 240
Weight: 0.4lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781250249548
Language: English