Our list of some of the best Polish History books & series in recent years. Get inspired by one or more of the following books.
1. Poland: A History (2012)
As Adam Zamoyski set out to update The Polish Way, his bestselling first history of Poland, he realized the task required not so much re-writing as re-thinking the known facts well as the assumptions of the past. The events of the last twenty years and the growth of the independent Polish state allowed him to look at Poland’s past with a fresh eye. Tracing Poland’s complex development from the Middle Ages topresent day, Zamoyski examines the country’s political, economic, and military struggles, as well as its culture, art, and richly varied society through the ages, bringing the major events and…
2. No Greater Ally: The Untold Story of Poland’s Forces in World War II (General Military) (2011)
There is a chapter of World War 2 history that remains largely untold: the story of the fourth largest Allied military of the war, and the only nation to have fought in the battles of Leningrad, Arnhem, Tobruk and Normandy. This is the story of the Polish forces during the Second World War, the story of millions of young men and women who gave everything for freedom and in the final victory lost all. In a cruel twist of history, the monumental struggles of an entire nation have been largely forgotten, and even intentionally obscured. Available for the first time in paperback, No Greater Ally redresses the balance,…
3. Polish Immigration to America: When, Why, How and Where (Polish Genealogy) (2016)
When did your Polish ancestors immigrate, where did they leave, why did they leave, how did they get here? These are questions we all hope to find the answers. This book discusses the history of Poland and gives some insights to possible answers to the questions about your ancestors’ immigration. All three Polish partitions are covered and the material will hopefully clear-up your confusion why your Polish ancestors listed that they were born in other countries on early U.S. documents.The book also presents brief histories of most of the ports that were used by Polish immigrants for departure from Europe and the ports where they arrived. Also…
4. A Traveller’s History of Poland (2012)
Poland is a major European country with over 38 million inhabitants and a land area comparable to Spain. It has played a major role in European history but its subjugation by foreign powers in the nineteenth century and during the Cold War eclipsed Poland in the minds of many in Western Europe and the United States. Throughout its long and diverse history it has been a meeting place of many cultures and has given the world the poetry of Czeslaw Milosz, the music of Chopin, and the scientific discoveries of Copernicus and Marie Curie, to name but a few. In A…
5. God’s Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 (2005)
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…
6. Poland: The First Thousand Years (2016)
Since its beginnings, Poland has been a moving target, geographically as well as demographically, and the very definition of who is a Pole has been in flux. In the late medieval and early modern periods, the country grew to be the largest in continental Europe, only to be later wiped off the map for more than a century. The Polish phoenix that rose out of the ashes of World War I was obliterated by the joint Nazi-Soviet occupation that began with World War II. The postwar entity known as Poland was shaped and controlled by the Soviet Union. Yet even under these constraints, Poles persisted in their…
7. The Family Tree Polish, Czech And Slovak Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Family Tree in Eastern Europe (2016)
Trace your Eastern European ancestors from American shores back to the old country. This in-depth guide will walk you step-by-step through the exciting–and challenging–journey of finding your Polish, Czech, or Slovak roots. You'll learn how to identify immigrant ancestors, find your family's town of origin, locate key genealogical resources, decipher foreign-language records, and untangle the region's complicated history. The book also includes timelines, sample records, resource lists, and sample record request letters to aid your research.In this…
8. The Essential Guide to Being Polish: 50 Facts & Facets of Nationhood (2013)
Being Polish is no joke. For ten million people of Polish ancestry in the United States, as well as many who have settled in the UK since the fall of communism, it is a heartfelt matter⎯and amid all the travel guides and guides to Polish language, folklore, and customs, there is no single, comprehensive, reader-friendly and yet ever-informative reference on what it means to be Polish. Enter The Essential Guide to Being Polish⎯the go-to concise resource for anyone looking to reconnect with their culture or, indeed, hoping that their friends, children, or colleagues learn something about their heritage.
Divided into three sections to…
9. A Concise History of Poland (Cambridge Concise Histories) (2019)
Poland is a tenacious survivor-state: it was wiped off the map in 1795, resurrected after the First World War, apparently annihilated again in the Second World War, and reduced to satellite status of the Soviet Union after 1945. Yet it emerged in the vanguard of resistance to the USSR in the 1980s, albeit as a much more homogeneous entity than it had been in its multi-ethnic past. This book outlines Poland’s turbulent and complex history, from its medieval Christian origins to the reassertion of that Christian and European heritage after forty-five years of communism. It describes Poland’s transformation since 1989, and…
10. Poland: A Novel (2015)
In this sweeping novel, James A. Michener chronicles eight tumultuous centuries as three Polish families live out their destinies. The Counts Lubonski, the petty nobles Bukowksi, and the peasants Buk are at some times fiercely united, at others tragically divided. With an inspiring tradition of resistance to brutal invaders, from the barbarians to the Nazis, and a heritage of pride that burns through eras of romantic passion and courageous solidarity, their common story reaches a breathtaking culmination in the historic showdown between the ruthless Communists and rebellious farmers of the modern age….
11. God’s Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present (2005)
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,…
Best Polish History Books to Read
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some polish history books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
The Age of Questions: Or, A First Attempt at an Aggregate History of the Eastern, Social, Woman, American, Jewish, Polish, Bullion, Tuberculosis, and Many Other Questions over the Nineteenth Century, and Beyond
Author(s): Holly Case
Publisher: Princeton University Press, Year: 2018, Size: 4 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2289325
History of the Habsburg Empire: Rise and Decline of the Great Dynasty: The Founder–Rhodolph’s Election as Emperor, Religious Strife in Europe, Charles V, The Turkish Wars, The Polish War, Maria Theresa, The French Revolution & European Coalition
Author(s): John S. C. Abbott
Publisher: Madison & Adams Press, Year: 2018, Size: 823 Kb, Download: epub
ID: 2292633
The Age of Questions: Or, a First Attempt at an Aggregate History of the Eastern, Social, Woman, American, Jewish, Polish, Bullion, Tuberculosis, and Many Other Questions Over the Nineteenth Century, and Beyond
Author(s): Holly Case
Publisher: Princeton University Press, Year: 2018, Size: 6 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 2304892
Polish Cinema: A History
Author(s): Marek Haltof
Publisher: Berghahn Books, Year: 2018, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2357128
The Persona of Czeslaw Milosz
Author(s): Mikolaj Golubiewski
Publisher: Peter Lang Verlag, Year: 2018, Size: 8 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2403705
The Catholic Church in Polish History: From 966 to the Present
Author(s): Sabrina P. Ramet
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US, Year: 2017, Size: 12 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1701133
The History of Skepticism. In Search of Consistency
Author(s): Renata Ziemińska
Publisher: Peter Lang, Year: 2017, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2269312
The Oxford history of Poland-Lithuania, vol.1: The making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385-1569
Author(s): Frost Robert
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Year: 2015, Size: 32 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1575862
The Polish Hearst: Ameryka-Echo and the Public Role of the Immigrant Press
Author(s): Anna D Jaroszynska-Kirchmann
Publisher: University of Illinois Press, Year: 2015, Size: 8 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1619111
A History of the Polish Intelligentsia, Vol. 2: The Vicious Circle: 1832-1864
Author(s): Jedlicki Jerzy
Publisher: Peter Lang, Year: 2015, Size: 22 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2478399
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are really chart-busters according to Los Angeles Times, others are composed by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant links you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.