The History of the Joint German Polish Textbook Commission explores one of the original, and most important, platforms for academic dialogue between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland following the Second World War. It provides an insight into three main aspects of the process: casting new light on academia’s relationship with politics, and with the public, within an organization that reached across national boundaries and political blocs. It examines the cooperation between German and Polish scholars coping with the oppressive background of the Second World War and experiencing the effects of the policy of détente. It also recounts how a few isolated contacts between experts were able to develop into a solid academic organization. The focal point of the work concerns the underlying social structures, internal regulatory systems and the negotiation and communication processes.