Reymont’s work tells the story of three friends – the young engineer Karol Borowiecki, the trader Moryc Welt and the son of the factory owner Maks Baum – whose aim is to set up a factory and make millions. The predatory, capitalist Łódź of the late 19th century provides the backdrop for events exposing the uncompromising nature of the free market game and the psychological underpinnings of exploitation against those individuals who have retained a reflex of conscience.

“The Promised Land” is a story about dreams, unbridled ambition and the pursuit of goals regardless of cost and consequences. Regardless of class and background, everyone – from the common labourer to the president of a large factory – dreams of a better life and success. The mechanism of the pursuit of power, fame and money is familiar to all of us.