Product Description The second edition of this guide to Poland has been updated to take account of the years from 1989-2005. This period marked its liberation from the Soviet Union, the birth of Poland's 'Third Republic' and, recently, its accession to the European Union in 2004. Poland's history has been marked by its resilience. Once a dominant force in central and eastern Europe and home to a remarkable experiment in consensual politics, it was excised from the map by its neighbours in 1795. Resurrected in 1918, partitioned afresh during the Second World War, it survived to become a satellite of the Soviet Union. Yet in the 1980s, it was Poland which blazed the trail in casting off communism, and was finally able to reassert its Christian heritage. With its updated bibliography and new chronology, the book is the ideal companion for all looking for a comprehensive survey of this fascinating country.
Book Description This second edition has been revised throughout and updated to include most recent developments from 1989-2005, notably Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004. The authors have also expanded and updated the bibliography, included new illustrative material, and added a chronology.
Customer Reviews: A Concise History of Poland by Jerzy Lukawdski and Hubert ZawadskiMay 12, 2010 Bruce Bennett(Tyler, TX, US) As advertised, this "concise" history of Poland, this one-volume attempt, is just what it is purported to be-"concise." In fact it is so concise that it is confusing in the early going before the year 1795. Being that Poland is/was and has always been a divided and enlarging and shrinking state,sometimes even disappearing,this attempt at chronicling the ever changing Poland is written as advertized,"the highly complex part of this state prior to 1795, " is difficult to follow. This volume is my first attempt at reading a chronological history of
Poland and it was confusing to say the least. The double and sometimes multiple lines of its dynasties, i.e. the Piast and the Jagiellonian pre-1795 intermixed with Polish, Lithuanian and Russ, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary and other dynasties is clearly unclear. To their credit,the authors Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki make a gallant attempt to present the story of this early history of an ever changing "state" or was it a "condition" called Poland/Lithuania.There was too much flip-floping back and forth between the concurrent dynasties and sometimes flipping to previous and future realms in the writers attempts to explain this Polish-Lithuanian history. Once they trudge through those dublicitious early years things get much clearer to read. I actually found the 20th century writing to be understandable. I especially liked the chronicling of the World War II and Post-WWII eras and their descriptions of the German and Soviet takeovers and the building and the fall of the Communist regime. Perhaps my experience in my own lifetime and my previous studies of modern 20th century history and my studies of the building of the Third Reich and the Soviet dictatorships and their fall allowed me to understand more of what the writers were trying to say.I especially liked the maps of different eras in this volume. They helped me a lot in trying to make sense of this confusing story.I also liked the way the Catholic Church was portrayed as an interveener throughout the history of this "country." I have much sympathy for the Polish and Lithuianian people and their plight throughout modern history. The discussions of the effects of the Taters was well written and added to the understanding of this confusing early history prior to 1795. Years ago I read Minchner's Poland, and got my first picture of the enlarging, shrinking, and sometimes disappearing state of Poland.So having read this volume before reading A Concise History of Poland helped me a lot to understand this volume. I suspect that some confusion may also have been germinated in the writers attempts at putting numerous languages and their meanings into english.
A Solid Overview of Polish HistoryAugust 13, 2008 Jan Peczkis(Chicago IL, USA) 5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book gives balanced detail to the different epochs of Polish history beginning with prehistory and ending with the fall of Communism.
Many interesting facts are presented in this book. For instance, the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Krakow was completed in 1397. (p. 52). In the 19th century, Russian revolutionaries Herzen and Bakunin supported the resurrection of the Polish state. (p. 163). In 1909, the Boryslaw-Drohobycz oil fields accounted for 5% of the world's oil production. (p. 162). Finally, Kiev had a large and thriving Polish intelligentsia as recently as 1917. (p. 164).
Some writers have claimed that Marie Curie-Sklodowska, following her move to France, increasingly distanced herself from her Polish heritage. In apparent refutation of this, the authors point out that Curie always maintained close contact with Poland, and was instrumental in establishing the Radium Institute in Warsaw in 1932. (p. 163). This was shortly before her death.
During the interwar period, popular illiteracy was reduced from 33% to 15%, and mortality rates were cut in half. A modest beginning was made in mechanization. In 1939, Poland had 2,000 tractors compared with France's 30,000. (pp. 221-222). (Of course, much agriculture all over Europe at the time was still non-mechanized).
A unique aspect of this book is its detailed list, in the back, of all of Poland's rulers, beginning with the dynasties. The list includes foreign rulers of Prussian-occupied, Austrian-occupied, and Russian-occupied Poland, as well the Communist rulers of Poland in the 20th century. There is even a listing of leaders of the Polish Government in Exile in London, which existed in the years 1939-1990.
DefinativeMay 13, 2007 Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk(Oldham) 18 out of 18 found this review helpful
This is beyond a doubt the best history of Poland I have read so far (and I run a website on Polish History). It is concise yet detailed enough for any reader or for the curious. There are fascinating facts that one does not come across in any of the other histories which add to the general background and it is written in a eminently readable fashion. Lukowski is a very familiar name amongst students of Polish History - his account of the Partitions is a classic and the partnership with Zawadzki makes me want to read that historian's work also. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you want a History of Poland then this is the definative version.
Best concise history so far-Better than the usual mythsDecember 12, 2003 26 out of 33 found this review helpful
In contrast to the usual myths, it is such a pleasure to read a more honest historical account written by two ethnic Polish writers, now, after many decades of war propagandas. As the authors of this book state: 'The 20th century has added its own myths ...after the Second World War, Polish historiography was want to depict a 'Piast Poland' whose boundaries were curiously congruent with those of the post 1945 state'. James Michener's book 'Poland' (claiming that Poland should have rightfully conquered Prussia), is also one of those myths perpetuating fictions. Michener, a fiction travel writer gentlemen, was taken in by his charming hosts, during the Communist Polish government, while writing his book. Some people take his fantasy book 'Poland' as factual history of Poland. In contrast the two authors of this book, Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki have done some factual research. High time that this 'Concise History of Poland' was written and published.
A great overview of Polish historyMarch 20, 2003 Joan Monica Wanat(Wheeling, IL USA) 33 out of 36 found this review helpful
If you have no knowledge of Polish history, this book is a good place the start. The authors recommend Playground of the Gods if you are looking for a more detailed history of Poland, but I haven't read those yet so I can't "offically" recommend them.
This book covers basic events and ideas that occured in Poland for the past 1000 years. In addition to politics and military events, the authors attempt to list cultural figures, such as Chopin, and how those figures reflected or affected Polish events.
There were few details on events most people normally think about when they think of Poland, such as concentration camps and WWII. However, these issues aren't ignored entirely, just given the same coverage as other events in Polish history.
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