Davies was at hand to resfresh that memory

Which could even be true, but still a lower profile and a little more demureness may help this superstar of historian!

The first edition of the book was published in the mid 1980s, therefore the account starts from this period to get back as far as the almost mythological Mieszko I and the beginning of the Piast dinasty.Nevertheless, if you own one of the last editions of “Heart of Europe” you will find a couple of extra chapters at the end which, although subverting the top-bottom chronology of the book, are very welcome. Here Davies investigates over the record of the 7 prime ministers Poland had in 7 years between 1989 and 1997 and tries to foresee what would have come come next.

What I liked in this book is that there are bits of “human touch” while talking about the “poetry side” of early Solidarnosc in Gdansk or writing about Polish culture and literature citing important names such as Rey, Slowacki, Sienkiewicz, Konwicki, Milosz, Szymborska and Huelle.

I kind of like Davies’ writing style which has just this tendency of being too dry and self-satisfied sometimes, but confirms how this guy is probably the maximum living expert on Polish history.

The only thing I found a bit disturbing is how Norman Davies talks about himself (“the author”) in third person at some point underlining how this “God’s Playground” of him is considered “one of the books of the Millennium” (I beg your pardon: by whom?). . more

By the time the Solidarity movement started to have an impact on the political stabilty of communist Poland in the early 80’s, the Iron Curtain had long cut this country off from the conscious memory of Western Europe.

More than an introduction to the history of the Polish lands, which have never completely corresponded to the frontiers of the state at any time, this book is a declaration of love to the accomplishments of Polish culture and the sheer r By the time the Solidarity movement started to have an impact on the political stabilty of communist Poland in the early 80’s, the Iron Curtain had long cut this country off from the conscious memory of Western Europe.

You tend to agree once you’ve attended a Chopin concerto in Krakow, seen the ruins in the Uprising Museum and wandered a resurrected Warshaw. My grandparents can talk of “having lived through the war” in occupied Belgium, but by comparison we got off easy.

The 2001 edition updates events from the fall of communism to the turn of the millenium. These addenda are of limited value, but the ‘current events’ opening chapter has matured into eyewitness history. . more

More than an introduction to the history of the Polish lands, which have never completely corresponded to the frontiers of the state at any time, this book is a declaration of love to the accomplishments of Polish culture and the sheer resilience of its inhabitants

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book describes history of Poland in an easy and approachable way, so it’s great for people who’d like to get to know it better. Of course it is pretty brief, more brief actually the further it goes in the past. That’s what you get if you want whole history of a country described in one book. It is a bit more detailed when it comes to The Polish People Republic and Soviet Union influence. Author tries to judge Polish struggles on a moral level.