THE POLISH WAY
A lavishly illustrated history, from the tenth century to the present day, tells of Poland’s achievement as a European nation: a subject that has occupied historians far less than the woes that have beset her people.
Here is a country that was one of the first in Europe to enshrine a measure of personal liberty in law, that was second only to Iceland in evolving a parliament. The Renaissance manifested itself much more strongly in Polish culture than in its neighbours’. Poland enjoyed religious peace while others were divided into the murderous factions of the Reformation and Counter Reformation. Its victories over Teutonic Knights, Tatars and Turks, and effortless conquest of Moscow, won it a reputation for a century and more as the most formidable military force in Europe. Its Constitution of 1791 lit a brief beacon for the liberal world, while sealing its own doom.
Adam Zamoyski demonstrates the continuity underlying the apparently discontinuous history of the Polish people, and reveals much in Poland’s past that must be grasped for any understanding of what is happening in the country today – in parliamentary politics from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, in the religious issues that have dominated public life, in Polish literature, art and architecture.
The colour and monochrome illustrations, most of them published here for the first time outside Poland, provide a striking record of Polish attitudes and tastes, and illuminate that curious mixture of Eastern and Western influence which make up Polish culture.
Extracts from reviews of THE POLISH WAY
Adam Zamoyski's The Polish Way is a stunner; a comprehensive history of Poland from its origins to its present tragic fate. Clear, calm, beautifully written, its scope is enormous, its story enthralling and its plates magnificent.’
Bernard Levin, The Times
‘A rich and delightful book.’
Piers Paul Read, The Sunday Telegraph
‘Adam Zamoyski's study...is lavishly illustrated, agreeably written, and...provides a lucid and wide-ranging survey of Polish cultural development.’
Edward Acton, The Observer
'I was so impressed by this book.’
Norman Stone, The Sunday Times
‘The Polish Way will be ranked as one of the foremost Anglo-Saxon contributions of the decade to popularising the history of Poland. It is the coming of age of a writer of great intelligence, beautiful style, and a wise sense of humour.’
Radek Sikorski, The Guardian
‘Excellent...superbly illustrated...recounting Poland's dramatic history from the earliest times to the present day, spanning the colourful sweep of Poland's heroic past with selective vision, a masterly grasp of the source material and a perceptive eye for the telling anecdote.’
Nikolay Tolstoy, London Daily News
‘The most rewarding book of the year.’
John Jolliffe, The Spectator
‘The book blends broad brush strokes with pointillist detail in a marvellously satisfying and gripping way and has immediately taken its place as the outstanding study in this field.’
The Times Educational Supplement
‘Erudite and at times extremely perceptive...vigorous and readable...I shall frequently return to this beautifully illustrated book.’
Michal Giedroyc