The most comprehensive survey of Polish history available in English, God's Playground demonstrates Poland's importance in European history from medieval times to the present. Abandoning the traditional nationalist approach to Polish history, Norman Davies instead stresses the country's rich multinational heritage and places the development of the Jewish German, Ukrainian, and Lithuanian communities firmly within the Polish context. Davies emphasizes the cultural history of Poland through a presentation of extensive poetical, literary, and documentary texts in English translation. In each volume, chronological chapters of political narrative are interspersed with essays on religious, social, economic, constitutional, philosophical, and diplomatic themes. This new edition has been revised and fully updated with two new chapters to bring the story to the end of the twentieth century.

About the Author

Norman Davies is chair of the history department, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, at the University of London.

Table of Contents

Maps and DiagramsIllustrationsNotes on the IllustrationsAbbreviationsChronology I. Poland Destroyed and Reconstructed, 1795-1945 1. Narod: The Growth of the Modern Polish Nation (1772-1945)2. Rossiya: The Russian Partition (1772-1918)3. Preussen: The Prussian Partition (1772-1918)4. Galicia: The Austrian Partition (1773-1918)5. Fabryka: The Process of Industrialization6. Lud: The Rise of the Common People7. Kosciol: The Roman Catholic Church in Poland8. Kultura: Education and the Cultural Heritage9. Zydzi: The Jewish Community10. Wojsko: The Military Tradition11. Emigracja: The Polish Emigration12. Varsovie: The Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1815)13. Kongresowka: The Congress Kingdom (1815-1864)14. Cracovia: The Republic of Cracow (1815-1846)15. Wiosna: The Springtime of Other Nations (1848)16. Reveries: The Thaw and the January Rising (1855-1864)17. Rewolucja: Revolution and Reaction (1904-1914)18. Feniks: The Rebirth of the Polish State (1914-1918)19. Niepodleglosc: Twenty Years of Independence (1918-1939)20. Golgota: Poland in the Second World War (1939-1945)21. Granice: The Modern Polish Frontiers (1919-1945) II. Contemporary Poland since 1944 22. Partia: The communist Movement23. Polska Ludowa: The Polish 'People's Republic' (since 1944)24. Solidarnosc: The Solidarity Decade25. Wolnosc: Freedom Regained, 1990-2000 PostscriptNotes on the TextSuggestions for Further ReadingIndex

Reviews

"The standard work on the subject in English.... [Davies] writes with commanding dexterity and a confident, at times almost swaggering, intelligence as he balances narrative and analysis." -- "Atlantic Monthly"