His 1959 book on Poland under Communism, "The Frozen Revolution", began when Gibney visited there as a journalist in 1957. He'd come to investigate what was called the "Polish October Revolution" of 1956. It was a half successful transformation of government, being limited by Soviet insistence on a continuance of communist rule. Gibney shows how the result seriously subverted the "imperial Communist system" in central Europe and also in Russia. He discusses the late-1950s in Poland: the Communist Party and Gomulka, the intellectual life, the Catholic Church, and troubles in the planned economy. Also addressed are the former-German lands, the Jews of Poland, and Poland during World War II.