Kamienie na szaniec was published by the Polish underground press in 1943, during the period of German occupation of Poland in World War II.

[2] The story portrayed in the book is a slightly fictionalized account of real lives of Gray Rank members (known by their noms-de-guerre of "Rudy", "Zośka", and "Alek"), with the final act centred on the Operation Arsenal.

The book tells the story of a group of Polish boy-scouts taking part in resistance movements in nazi-occupied Warsaw.

Despite the success of the operation, "Rudy" dies shortly afterwards from grave injuries caused by torture during German interrogations, with "Zośka" by his side.

[5] Over the years the book, described as "canonical", became a recommended reading text for Polish students in the secondary school curriculum.

[9][10] At first, however, the book's popularity had been of concern to the Polish communist authorities after the war,[11] due to their ambivalent or even hostile attitude towards the Home Army tradition.