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Title: God's Playground, Volume 2 by Norman Davies ISBN: 0-231-05353-3 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1982 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $37.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.58 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The (Earlier) Land of the Free
Comment: One of the central theses in Davies' history of Poland up to 1795 is that it, rather than France, Britain or the Holy Roman Empire could lay claim to the true predecessor of American democracy. This may seem a stretch, but the institutions of the great Polish Commonwealth - an elective monarchy, decentralization, a powerful civic assembly - were closer to the Athenian ideal of democracy than any other medieval or rennaisance kingdoms. Poland also produced some of the great intellectuals of those eras - Copernicus standing out as the prime example. Though the Polish constitution had its eccentricities: for instance, the kingdom imported its sovereigns from all corners of Europe (the Valois of France, the Vasas of Sweden and later the dukes of Saxony), the Polish-Lithuanian state became the most powerful military and political force in Eastern Europe for the better part of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, only to be dismembered in the eighteenth. This is an academic book, volume 1 of 2, and readers who find the 500+ page length daunting might be better off with the one-volume abridgement. This longer volume, however, is rewarding, because it has a wonderful narrative arc: origins, rise, and downfall, with the tragic eighteenth century partitions in the final chapters suggestive of worse twentieth century partitions to come. There are also personal anecdotes, such as the story of King Sigismund, who died of an overdose of gherkins, or poor Queen Jadwiga, forced to abandon her teenage sweetheart in order to marry pagan King Jagiellon of Lithania, a man twice her age who went to the altar only moments after his baptism.
Rating: 5
Summary: Davies gives a thorough and balanced view of Polish History
Comment: God's Playground is currently being used by many schools in Poland as the textbook of Polish history. It was writen in English, and was translated into Polish to be used in schools. It is very thorough, well balanced, and focuses on the Mickiewicz point of view. The book is a good reflection of how Poles see their history. Russophiles probably wouldn't enjoy this very Polish view of history, but it is well written, well researched, and interesting! This is the first book about Polish history, that was translated into Polish to be used in Polish schools.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Own
Comment: Everyone ought to have this book in their library. Any book written by Norman Davies should be read. The guy is THAT good!!!
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Title: Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present by Norman Davies ISBN: 0192801260 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: July, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture by Adam Zamoyski ISBN: 0781802008 Publisher: Hippocrene Books Pub. Date: December, 1993 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: A Question of Honor : The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II by Lynne Olson, Stanley Cloud ISBN: 0375411976 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 23 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: A Concise History of Poland by Jerzy Lukowski, Hubert Zawadzki ISBN: 0521559170 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab, Mary Anne Knab ISBN: 0781805155 Publisher: Hippocrene Books Pub. Date: October, 1996 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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