The controversial Kapuściński non-fiction by Artur Domosławski has sold over 130, 000 copies since its launch six weeks ago.

Paweł Szwed, editor-in-chief of Świat Książki, the book’s publisher, describes the success as ‘phenomenal’, saying that the most optimistic forecasts predicted the sale of up to 100, 000 copies.

“As things stand now, the book is likely to sell twice as many copies by the end of the year,” he said.

Kapuściński non-fiction has also sold over 3, 000 copies as an audio book.

The book probes into the life and work of Ryszard Kapuścinski, one of the world’s best-known foreign correspondents, who was said to have witnessed more than twenty coups and revolutions around the world. Domosławski knocks Kapuścinski off his pedestal, writing about his communist past and contacts with the secret police, and pointing to the many factual errors in his books.

Kapuściński’s widow tried, unsuccessfully, to ban the book’s publication.

Ryszard Kapuściński (1937-2007) won international reputation with such books as The Emperor, The Shah of Shahs, The Soccer War, The Shadow of the Sun, and Travels with Herodotus. (mk)