God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 [Paperback]

Norman Davies (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231128177 | ISBN-13: 978-0231128179 | Publication Date: July 1, 2005 | Edition: Revised

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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"

About the Author

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 638 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; Revised edition (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231128177
• ISBN-13: 978-0231128179
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #442,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Norman Davies C. M. G., F. B. A. is Professor Emeritus of the University of London, a Supernumerary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, and the author of several books on Polish and European history, including God's Playground, White Eagle, Red Star, The Isles, Europe, and Microcosm.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best on Poland--Where's the Update?, February 2, 2000

By 

William L. Harwood - See all my reviews

This review is from: God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 (Paperback)

Since its publication in 1984, these two heavy tomes have been the only survey course of Polish history worth reading, in Polish or English or any other language. The others, since the beginnings of Polish history books, have generally been badly outdated, marred by heavy ideological or religous bias, or were written by enthusiasts rather than by trained historians. I have read as many as I could fine since I started studying the field in 1971. Davies is controversial because he does indeed take stands not always popular with some readers, and he is a reasonable romantic enthusiast. Note the other reviews. After all, he received his doctorate in Krakow, the former capital of Poland, a true measure of devotion to the country. Unfortunately, the world of Polish, much less Eastern European, historigoraphy has been overturned with the end of the Cold War and opening of the archives and libraries formerly denied. There is a crying need for an updated version of Polish history, especially to cover the post-1945 period, which was off-limits under the rules in the former People's Republic. Until then, read Davies. Understandably, the market for this sort of work is limited, but it is good to know that a Polish translation is used in the restored Poland. Certain periods are well-coverd, as in the Piotr Wandycz book on 19th century Poland. We distributed copies of this work through the cultural section of the American Embassy in Warsaw in the 1980's.

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shining example of what historical writing should be, August 7, 2002

By 

Glenn McDorman (Denver) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 (Paperback)

With God's Playground Davies has proven himself to be one of the greatest historians, historical writers, and historical theorists that the English language has known. Davies combines the narrative and thematic approaches to achieve a historical study that provides a chronology of events as well as an understanding of deeper changes and cultural contexts. Since you are reading this in the hopes that it will help you decide to buy the book, let me explain how Davies does this. First, he provides a chapter that is written in the traditional narrative style from n-date to x-date. Then he follows that up with several chapters on each facet of Polish life and how that developed from n-date to x-date. Typically, he uses political, military, economic, religious, and cultural (the arts, etc.) as his primary themes. By using this technique Davies is able to impart much more knowledge and much deeper understanding to his readers. Finally, these two volumes also contain some of the best and most useful maps I have encountered in any history book. The maps alone are worth the price of the book, and anyone teaching a European history course will find them to be invaluable in helping students understand Eastern Europe.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book, February 18, 2001

By 

Konrad Korzeniewski (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 (Paperback)

Excellent book. Few years back Norman Davies received an honorary diploma from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow for his outstanding achievements. This book was recognized as a masterpiece, translated into Polish, and is currently used by undergraduate and graduate students in Poland.

I highly recommend it.