Poland's two great poets studied there: Adam Mickiewicz nearly two centuries ago, and in the pre-war years Czeslaw Milosz, a Nobel prizewinner.

ECONOMIST: Vilnius

He writes with insight and authority about the giants of Polish literature, Adam Mickiewicz from the 19th century and Czeslaw Milosz, the Nobel-prize winning poet who died in 2004.

ECONOMIST: Poland's modern history