Customer Reviews

Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland (Oxford Paperbacks)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Davies ruffled feathers of academics especially with his perspective on the fate of Jews in Poland during WW II. Poles often are presumed guilty of "not doing enough" to help Jews escape the Nazis. Davies argues that Poles were also in need of help and not in any position to offer others much help. His argument conflicted with views generally held by Jewish intellectuals and others and he had claimed that their influence had him removed from a proposed teaching position at a university. In any case, the book should be read as a serious contribution to understanding Polish history, and not as a polemical threat to anybody's "ironclad" notions.

This a very well researched, comprehensive piece of work that discusses the salient features of Polish history. It's worth reading just as a fairly short and very readable version of the Polish history that is written by a non-Pole. In addition, the author takes on the difficult task of trying to provide a historical perspective on the frustration of Poles put under the Soviet-imposed communist rule and, more specifically, on the historical roots of the Solidarity freedom movement. The original, inverted structure of the book (the most recent events first) serves these goals well but it may be frustrating for readers accustomed to the traditional chronological approach to history. Nevertheless, I liked this structure. I would recommend this book to any Pole and people interested in the history of Poland and Central Europe. In addition, this is a great reading for people of any nationality interested in the Soviet imperialism and in the historical reasons for its ultimate failure.

In the preface to the first edition published in 1984, Norman Davies writes, "No history book which sets out to relate the past to the present is written at the right time." Davies For Davies, the time he chose was 1983 - a few years into Jaruzelski's military coup and what appeared to be a definite lull in the historical action. 1983, as it turns out was also on the cusp of the great changes that the fall of communism had in store for the world by the end of the 1980's.

This is also where the book begins and then proceeds in a reverse chronological fashion to cover 5 separate periods of history including first, the period of the People's Republic (1944-1983), second, the period encompassing World War II (1939-1947), third, World War I and the interwar period (1914-1939), fourth, history during the Partitions (1795-1918) and fifth, historic Poland (history prior to 1795).

Davies then returns to 1983 to demonstrate the "past in Poland's present" or as Davies more eloquently puts it, "Such is the burden of History in Polish consciousness, that any full appreciation of the Polish crisis requires a full examination of the way in which the chief actors on the political scene perceived their roles in relation to the nations traditions." The next chapter is (now) a misnomer entitled "Beyond History" in which Davies reflects on the state of affairs in 1983 and is looking forward to the not-to-distant future. This chapter was the last chapter of the First and Second Editions and, as it turned out, Davies did not have to wait long before the not-to-distant future arrived in 1989 in which the People's Republic melted away. This inspired a new chapter for the 3rd edition entitled "Liberation" and covers the period from 1983 to roughly 2000.

Davies' work has a two-fold purpose. The first purpose is to demonstrate that one who has recourse to history can more fully understand and appreciate the significance of present day events. That is not to say that the past predetermines the present, but it is to say the present loses its meaning and significance without its relation to the past.

The second purpose was to show that although much of Poland's past lies at the intersection of East and West (or to use Samuel Huntington's formulation, between the Western Civilization and the Orthodox Civilization), Poland's proper place is in the West and it was Davies' hope when he first published that Poland would move out of the Soviet orbit and back into the Western world. Those hopes were realized when Poland joined NATO and the EU.

Davies' work is not so much history as it is historical argument and, as such, is a fine historical argument. If one is looking for a more traditional history, I would recommend M.B. Biskupski's "The History of Poland" (short), or Adam Zamoyski's "The Polish Way" (medium) or Norman Davies' "God's Playground" (long).

Well written book, takes a very comprehensive look at the history of not just Poland, but the entire region, and the forces that shaped it. The narration is reverse-chronological, starting with the most recent events, and tracing them back in history. It's worth reading just for his thesis about Poland's history bein characterized by cycles of great idealism and great pragmatism - a paradoxical merger, but one that works to this day.

I learned more about history of Poland then from any history lessons. Especially I apreciate history of Polish Jews and origins of Polish Nation.

The words of recommendation are not necessary if you know the history, not only one part of it. "Winners write history", which comes as nothing new under the sun, to those who lost so many lives fighting for a freedom of other nations. In Vienna (Sobieski), with Napoleon (Sarratoga),in I World War, II World War (check "Forgotten Holocaust", general Maczek army bringing freedom to Holland and Denmark, check 303 in battle for London, Monte Casino and more). Looking even in US own history Kosciuszko, Pulaski (those were the generals from Poland) helping general Washington. This is just sad that so fast people in that part of the World tend to forget and are not willing to learn more about those who were once very close to their hearth. As that author once said "Slaves are just hopelessly romantic". I just loved that book.

Not just bones and flesh on a telling of the history of a brave but battered European nation. Davies captures the soul of the nation and its struggle to survive
for its third millenium.

The book arrived in time and in very good condition indeed. I had borrowed a neighbors book, but found that the writer wrote in such an interesting fashion that I had to have a similar book for my library. It is full of detail, almost a reference book on the topic. It is a treasured part of my library. I am very pleased at the delivery and the book itself.

But sociology and psychology as well. I have been trying to educate myself in the area of European History over the course of the last year or so. As an introduction, I bought "Europe: A History" by Davies. After that overview, I have acquired other titles that focus on specific topics on European history such as "Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland." As a novice, I have no qualifications to challenge the history. I have a problem with the style. Mr. Davies, perhaps as someone who "feels" history, spends a great deal of effort addressing the sociological and psychological consequences of the various historical events. If Mr. Davies were to describe a car accident, he would include descriptions of how the passengers and by-standers felt and what it was that might have caused them to do what they did next. For me, I would rather have the facts reported as if they were a newspaper article. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book for the factual information.

(...)
Apparently for (...) history of Central Europe there is a huge black hole beginning XV century till the end of XVII century. This is not very surprising considering that in one of the previous 'reviews' she/he mentions 'typical slovian brutality'. The hatered that shouts from those reviews is disturbing. What kind of 'typical hatered' it is?

I could argue that for few centures territory of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth has been fairly quiet patch of tolerance in Europe (compared with Western Europe). That Poland really did not start second world war and Polish really did not support Hitler. That Poland lost 6 million citizens (3 million of them of Jewish origin).
Of cause Poland ais not saint of nations, no nation is. If one wants one can find many shamefull episodes in the history. But the same can be said about English (colonialism, slavery), Americans (extermination of Indian tribes), Jews (what did American Jews do to help European ones?, what is their policy towards Palestinians? - just to give modern time examples) and so on.
The opinions like Mrs/Mr Wing ones just made it plain that there is the need for books concerning Central Europe history. Maybe in the future there will be no American asking Pole, Czech, Slovakian or Ukrainian if there are still open concentration camps or if their countries border with China.

Instead of eating books one should read them and try to understand.