Customer Reviews

God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1

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If you are interested in the history of Poland and for that matter central Europe, then these two volumes are essential reading. From Poland's earliest times to Solidarity, the story of Poland in its beauty and agony is covered in great detail. I couldn't put the book down and at the end, I only wanted to pick up volume three. Norman Davies is not only a scholar but a riveting writer.

I am a 4th-generation American of Polish ancestry. I mostly read non-fiction, my "to-read" pile was low, so I decided earlier this summer to learn something of Polish history. I never had much interest in Polish history, but since my ancestors came from Poland, I thought it might be interesting. I knew nothing about the history of Poland, except the very thin veneer of WW2 history and Solidarity in the recent times, etc. I searched online and discovered that Davies 2 volume Polish history is considered the best in the English language. (Four generations removed from Poland, the only word I can say in Polish is "butter." I needed a good English book.) I just finished Vol 1, and I am about to buy Vol 2. Vol 1 starts from Polish pre-history to 1800, when the Polish political state was partitioned and abolished. Volume 1 is great! The writing is very good. Davies is a scholarly Oxford don type of writer. Beautiful language. It can be dense. I had to look up a few words. There were sections of the book I read very lightly -- some political details that are not of interest to a non-scholar casual reader. But there are some very interesting sections too that read very well. I loved some of Davies' extensive quotes from original sources. Some were quite funny and lewd. I will never forget the quote from Rousseau about the final partition of Poland. For an educated American of Polish descent, this book was a fun, if sometimes, dense read, full of information that I am now glad I know. Volume 1 is about 500 pages long, minus footnotes, and it took me 1 month to read it. My only complaint: I wish the book had better maps in it.