He was mainly portraying life of criminals and lowlifes of Minsk, which he knew very well, as well as work of Polish spies in Soviet Union and later the anti-Nazi conspiracy in Wilno; he had personal experience in both matters.

Following World War II, Piasecki's books were banned by communist censorship in the People's Republic of Poland.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in early 1990s, Lover of the Great Bear became again one of the best selling books in the country according to Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper.

Sergiusz Piasecki was born on 1 April 1901 (or 1 June 1899) in Lachowicze, 130 km from Minsk, then in Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire (now Brest Province, Belarus).

[citation needed] His family spoke exclusively in Russian at home and he didn't learn Polish language until his later imprisonment.

[citation needed] His childhood was very difficult because children at school mocked his Polish roots, calling him "Lach".

[citation needed] Piasecki hated the Russian school – as he later explained – and in the seventh grade, armed with a pistol attacked the teacher.

[2] After he run away from jain, he headed to Moscow, where he experienced October Revolution and watched his close friends' deaths.

[1] Afterwards, he was asked to join Polish intelligence, as his language skills (he spoke Russian and Belarusian fluently) were highly regarded.

[3] In the monograph about his life, work and legend,[4] researcher Krzysztof Polechoński noted that most available data about Piasecki's whereabouts often do not correspond to reality, not to mention the claims made by the writer himself.

[5] In early 1920s, Piasecki organized a whole web of Polish agents, covering the area of Soviet Belarus.

[citation needed] During this period, he served 21 months in Novogrudok prison for his involvement in a clash between two smuggling gangs.

After reading a manuscript of Kochanek Wielkiej Niedzwiedzicy, Wańkowicz encouraged Piasecki to continue his writing efforts and helped him to publish the book.

The day of his release was sensational, crowds of journalists were waiting at a gate, and Piasecki himself was shocked at technical novelties, such as radio, which had become common since 1926.

During the occupation of Poland, he was offered a chance to move to France, but refused and decided to stay in his occupied homeland.

In 1947, Piasecki moved to England, his name can be found on a resolution of Union of Polish Writers in Exile, which urged all concerned to stop publishing in the Communist-occupied country.