Customer Reviews

The Nation in the Village: The Genesis of Peasant National Identity in Austrian Poland, 1848-1914

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First off, the subject of the book is the transition of allegiance/identity of Galician peasants from being a subject of a Lord (landlord) to being independent citizens of the Kingdom of Poland. The time period involved is 1848-1914.

Secondly, this book was written by a history professor with the intended audience being fellow academia. It is not a "light read". It is a college-level research text. It's packed full of well researched details of the lives and times of Galician peasants. If you've got Polish roots, you'll learn a tremendous amount about them in this book! If you want more than just names on your family tree... If you're interested in knowing what life was like for the people whose names are on your family tree, you should read this book. It touches on what the peasants feared, how they celebrated (and what they celebrated), what educational opportunities they had, what opportunities they had for socializing, the role of women in farm life, lots about their struggles to become politically involved beyond their own villages and more. If you want well researched facts and details this is the book for you. I highly recommend it.

This book is very interesting for anyone studing or wanting to learn about Poland/Galicia and the heartaches they incountered in the mid to late 1800's.
My ancestors came from there and I find it interesting to know what they had
to go through, It makes it clearer to see why they left. Politics back then
were not much better than today.
The indroduction was a bit long, although informative. However still boring.

So much insight into the living, working, educational systems of Poland during the years of my grandparents' lives there .. and conditions of the country when they immigrated. Highly recommend for those who are researching their family history.