Recommended Poland's history books

1610 THE BATTLE OF KLUSHINO, Anthony Holland, 2023.

SURPRISINGLY I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AT ALL.

It is poorly written, extremely, extremely repetitive, not researched well and has poor sources and references, if you call his tertiary references sources at all.

Holland give historical background to the battle but it needs to be better organized and narrated more clearly. Remember that this is the convoluted period of Russian history, 1600-1620.

He does a decent analysis of leadership styles, army compositions, artillery, logistics, infrastructure, morale, mercenaries, etc. But they're all generalizations. He repeats himself way too often in this respect. In listing pros and cons he mentions the Polish liberum veto. It was never used at this time and didn't have any affect during this time.

For the actual battle I referred to Wikipedia and it seemed that that his narrative was copied directly from there. He refers to a primary source name but I had to Google it because it was not listed in the source section of the book. He mentions a contemporary Polish historian named Nagielski. I had to Google him (Miroslaw Nagielski) but I could not read his comments about the battle. They were not available on line. Again, Nagielski is not listed as a source.

Holland places a lot of emphasis on the Swedish and their contribution to the Russian army. It seems he's writing a preface to the rise of Swedish power in the north.

Finally he does a "comparative analysis" of Klushino with other battles of the time like Brietenfeld (1631) and Lepanto (1571) --- a naval battle???? Why? More effort should be given to events post battle (in my opinion) and in searching for more primary sources about the battle. How did the Polish cavalry get right into the Russian cavalry and destroy them? No details.

I'd pass on this history book.

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POLAND'S EASTERN BORDER, Michael Sliva, 2023. Written by a Canadian who is not an historian. Notice how his last name has been anglicized.

I had been making my way through Timothy Snyder's THE RECONSTRUCTION OF NATIONS (see above). It is a very scholarly "deep-dive" into the eastern lands of Poland throughout history. I then found Sliva's book which a.) was more readable and b.) was more up to date (2023 versus 2003).

At it's core it's a history of the KRESY --- the "borderlands". The eastern border was less a political line but more a fluctuating area of Polish influence. Part of my family came from the "eastern lands".

Sliva covers the "borderlands" of the East (naturally) the most. Places like Galicia, L'viv, Wilno, Volhynia, etc. He also covers the "hinterland". That's the areas furthest east especially during the Commonwealth. Places like Kyiv and Minsk.

There are interesting chapters dealing with Ruthenians (who they are), Lithuanians, Jews, Catholicism, Polonization (what is it), etc., etc. Importantly is the development of the concept of "nationalism".

Sliva also has lots of maps and charts. This always helps when presenting such complicated topics as the fluid Polish eastern lands. Maps and charts cover census data going as far back as 1790. Ethnicity and religious data from the 1921 & 1931 census are heavily analyzed, showing how borders finally, through lots of blood and tears, got shaped as they are today.

In the conclusion he very objectively states that the USSR/Russia is "...the far more impactful, oppressive, and modern occupier and occupies THE COLLECTIVE MEMORIES OF THESE PEOPLE (all folks of the eastern lands) TO A FAR GREATER DEGREE." (my caps)

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@marion kanawha

Check this book out, Marion...

... it's an interesting analysis of foreign politics of Great Britain. It shows how the Brits used Poland, Russia and Germany for their own interests and how they managed to pit various nations against each other for British profit. Great book by a man who died before WW2 and didn't see how the Brits skillfully manipulated Poland into becoming the target of Hitler's first Blitzkrieg. Very few books depict British backstabbing duplicity as well as this little gem by Roman Dmowski.

P.S. An example of what Dmowski wrote about can be observed even on this board, where we have a certain British member who accuses Poland of not being prepared for the war, when it was the British government that successfully pressured Poland to stop the general moblisation days before the invasion (which significantly decreased battle readiness of Polish forces).

Those trecherous Brits again! And those naive Polish simpletons who can be so easily manipulated! :):):)


Kania, are your silly historical musings a proper punishment for that British gentleman you disagree with? I highly doubt it...... Try to be more reasonable, drop those stupidities.


:):):) Don`t be stupid. Dmowski didn`t write any gems. He was a politician, not historian. That is why his publications are political manifestos, not history books. In the same way you can insist that Mein Kampf was a gem, too.

How in two seconds or less prove that you are a moron, A. T Pawian
Thanks for your book baboon it is a gem. lol!
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I think it wasn't his intention but an example of how to do it! So, instruction was illustrated by an example he had on hand.

Yes, darling, you and Kania are morons if you suggest discussing political publications by nationalist politicians in Poland`s history thread.

prove it!

Darling, you have always liked Mein Kampf because of its antisemitic message. You support Dmowski coz he belongs to the same Jews hating circle as Hitler. He was a nationalist politician unable to think rationally outside his rabid nationalism. Any publications by him are heavily corrupted with his sick agenda.

Oh, so you have nothing but your incoherent ramblings about a book you never even read. lol! You proved without a doubt that you are a moron, Thank you!

I leave reading such books by such authors to you and your nazio lot. Just like I left Mein Kampf. Ha!

Finally finished Timothy Snyder's THE RECONSTRUCTION OF NATIONS. (see above).
It's a survey history of Poland, Belarus, Lithuania and Ukrainia from 1569 to 1999. It's a very scholarly work so you better know your Polish history to understand it. Towards the end of the book my concerns were about Belarus. I'm Polish but my people came from Belarus. For the Belarusians they never fully developed a "nationalism'. The history of wars and Stalin (1937-41 Kuropaty Massacres for example) totally "Russofied" Belarus as she entered the end of the 20th century. A sense of being "Belorusian" has been lacking.

Concerning Ukraine there were too many problems that never were rectified. That's why Ukraine could not get into the EU. That's why Ukraine could not get into NATO. Now she's paying for that. (the book was written in 2003).

It seems that Poland and Lithuania made the difficult transition to modern statehood.

Yes, they are good people who are sort of torn between two options - they don`t know yet what they really are - Russian or European.


They wasted a great opportunuty of the open door in 1990s when Russia was a poor fallen state. Homo sovieticus Ukrainians who were suspicious of the West prevailed and their leaders didn`t press, either so in result Ukraine didn`t attempt to get closer to Europe.


They are paying for their naive belief that Russians are a civilised nation who gave up their imperial conquest as a means of developing the country. .

Your point is well taken. That's what Snyder says in his book. Now my taxes are being used to keep them afloat! I know that's a snide remark but from reading Snyder's book to the current situation it's a straight line.

THE HISTORY OF POLAND, S.A. Dunham. No date.

This is an 1831 book that has been recently re-printed. The book was written during the 1830 Revolution and the author, in his Preface, is very sympathetic to the cause.

Samuel Astley Dunham (1796-1858) was a British historian whose volumes appeared, over time, in LARDER'S CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA. The CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA was like an encyclopedia of histories and biographies done by various authors. Dunham's history of Poland was his first contribution. Over the next decade and a half he would write fifteen volumes of histories of Spain & Portugal, Europe in the Middle Ages, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Germanic Empire. His works were said to be well researched and very thorough.

What makes Dunham's work different is that he delves a lot into the early history and even touches on the pre-historical. The pre-historical was myth plus oral traditions. Cracus, Princess Wenda, the "bad guy" Popiel II, etc., etc. I thought it was quite fascinating.

But overall the book deals with the earlier history of Poland more so than the Commonwealth period. He finishes the book with a chapter entitled "Poland Partially Restored' which covers Napoleon's Grand Duchy, the Congress Kingdom, the Republic of Cracow. That's where he ends it.

The only bad point of the book is the agonizingly TINY, TINY text making it difficult to read comfortably. Overall it's interesting to read a Polish history, from a long time ago, written by a foreign historian.

How about the English of the 19th century in history books?? Doesn`t it sound a bit antiquated like in belles lettres of the time?

So you not only admit to being ignorant but you are proud of it. Geez I guess you are younger than me but didn't know that you are that stupid.

So to sum it up, you don't know that book, you never read it and you 'know' everything there is to know about it.

Well, you don't! You are just an ignorant anti-intellectual barbarian.
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Norman Davis these are Angpohones who know a thing or two about Polish history but their take is very peculiar, often narrow, and most of all biased by their political and ideological biases.

If you want to read a book about the Polish Kingdom's heydays I recommend a Scottish author. Robert Frost The Oxford History of Polish-Lithuania.

Queen Liberty: The Concept of Freedom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Anna Grześkowiak-Krwawicz,

Yes, I am proud that I didn`t read your fave book, Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. I also didn`t read communist books by Lenin or Stalin. Darling, life is too short to read all books that exist. You have to read those which are valuable. For the rest it is enough to read reviews.

But you can bask in Mein kampf by Adolf Hitler every day if you like it so much. What is the best quote from it in your opinion??

Well, I; 'm not surprised that you ditched the last chance to make yourself look somewhat normal. I guess you are a certified cretin with only one argument, you run in circles while shouting nazi Hitler nazi Hitler haha!

Remind your nurse you need another injection.

@pawian
It's very easy to read. Not difficult at all. It's just that the printing in the book I got is so tiny. That's tiring.

@Ironside

If you check entries #80, #81 and #91 in this thread you'll see that I have read that book. Very detailed; very intense.

Impossible! :):):) I consider myself and all people who didn`t read Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler as normal. While everybody who read is out of pure fascination like you is not normal. Isn`t that simply obvious???? Or obviously simple??? hahahaha


Yes, it is your life motto, we know. :(:(:(:(


My wife has chased all nurses away. hahahaha

That's how I feel. Anything after about 1830 is fine however books have to be in digital format for me now sadly.

I see. It must be in the topic which is discussed - probably historical stuff doesn`t use too much colloqiaul speech and idioms like fiction does.

PS. Yes, I know I have made a mistake in colloqiaul but I always do, I can never remember it, and don`t have time to check each time I use it. So don`t correct me, please because it it useless. :):):)

MARTYRED AND BLESSED TOGETHER, THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE ULMA FAMILY, Fr. Pawel Rytel-Andrianik & Manuela Tulli, 2023.

To say the least this book is intense! You'll definitely reflect upon it after you've read it. Fr. Rytel-Andrianik is a professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He's also editor of the Polish section of Vatican Radio/News. Manuela Tulli is an Italian journalist covering Vatican and religious topics for the Ansa news agency. The author of books, she's also a blogger.

The book's narrative flows beautifully and it is well documented with copious footnotes and bibliography. Included in the bibliography are websites. Unfortunately for me a lot of it is in Polish.

One of the most interesting topics covered is that of the child in the womb who was killed. That child is considered a martyr and beatified. The book delves into that topic and also covers the children who were very young. They are also considered martyr and beatified by the church. The topic of "martyrdom" is also covered in clear terms. Biographies of the Ulma family and the Jewish victims are also covered.

The neighbors knew the Ulmas were harboring refugees. Even though the house was 200 or so meters from the main road (650+ feet) they saw lots of activity. Food usually gave one away. Large amounts of food were purchased. But it was not neighbors who betrayed the Ulmas. It was a local policeman who was entrusted with one of the Jewish person's property who got greedy.

Chapter4, "The Massacre" is like a deep-sleep, very quick, very disturbing nightmare. All the murders were quickly done within minutes. Silently, no talking, no comments, no shouts, no orders, just gunshots. Only the children were left to be dealt with. The murderers robbed everything from the house and hauled it away in carts. Pillows, mattresses, beds, cups, plates, soup dishes, pots, pans and even tanned leather pieces that Jozef Ulma had been working on. Then the crew got drunk celebrating with vodka. Unbelievable!

The betrayer got his just due. What disturbs me is the officer in charge. He's the one who ordered the children to be killed. He told the villagers he was doing them a favor because no one would have to worry about orphans. He died respectfully at his home. When they went looking for him in 1960, he was already dead. What a story!

I highly recommend reading this.

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A sad story, widely known in Poland.

There are some history books that I'm looking for in English. So far no luck finding anything.
Firstly is any book the covers the 1863 Revolution. Even if it's a section of another history book. A long as it covers the events in detail better than Wikipedia and other Google searches. I believe this event affected my family and caused some of them to come to America, France and Argentina. I want to know more about the mundane facts such as the serfs, opportunities, property, finances, economic growth, etc.

Secondly I don't see much coverage anywhere about the period from the election of the Saxon Augustus to the Silent Sejm (1717).
Basically this is the period of the Great Northern War. I would be willing to get a GNW history but there doesn't seem to be any available. Could someone refer me to an accurate GNW history? One that will cover all facets, not just Russia and Sweden. I don't even know a reliable GNW history. I could search libraries if I had a title and author. The best I've done is Wikipedia concerning the civil war fought in Poland during the GNW. I need to know more of the details such as who were the major players in this drama.

Any help would be appreciated.

For reference purposes.

I found a history book, in English, about the January Uprising (1863). It's a free download from Google Books because it's now copyright free to use.

THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT IN POLAND WITH A NARRATIVE OF THE POLISH INSURRECTION OF 1863, William Ansell Day, 1867.
Cannot find much about William Day. He produced very little output. His other work is THE PYTHOUSE PAPERS, 1879, about late 17th century English anti-Catholic hysteria, plots to assassinate Charles II, hanging Jesuits, etc., etc.

His Polish history seems to be very detailed. I have not read it yet.

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Another history book, in English, concerning the January Uprising of 1863.

REFORM AND INSURRECTION IN RUSSIAN POLAND, 1856-1865, by R.F. Leslie, 1963. I managed to obtain this book through the US inter-library loan system and am making my way through it.

Robert Frank Leslie (1918-1994) was a British professor and a specialist in Polish history. One of his other books is POLISH POLITICS AND THE REVOLUTION OF NOVEMBER, 1830, published 1956, 1969.

This is not a military history of the insurrection. The last chapter basically deals with that. The book is 251 pages long excluding the bibliography. 151 pages are devoted to the background and events that led up to January, 1863. Diplomatic maneuverings and Polish politics cover another sixty pages.

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THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF POLAND, Edward H. Lewinski-Corwin, PhD, 1917.

I'm fascinated by this book because it's so easy to read. The narrative of events are so clear that it makes understanding easier. I'm surprised this book has not stayed in print longer. For me it seems to be one of the best flowing histories of Poland.

I'm about 40% through the 628 pages book and I decided to investigate it. I'll comment on the books contents when I finish it.
Because I'm enjoying and understanding a lot of events, I began to wonder how accurate the book was. There was an agenda to write this history but did that taint the actual history in any way? What type of historian was Lewinski-Corwin?

Edward H. Lewinski-Corwin, PhD (1885-1953) WAS NOT AN HISTORIAN. That surprised me. He received his degree from Columbia University and was a healthcare practitioner in city and state health departments. In 1934 he was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
But he was also an activist for Polish independence to English-speaking Americans. During World War I he was Secretary of the American Polish Relief Committee. It was during this time he wrote this history book. He says,

"There are very few works in the English language which reveal a true understanding of Polish history."

"Undertaken with a view of presenting an accurate account of the political and social evolution of Poland, based especially and largely on Polish sources of information."
He mentions two events that will foster a rebirth of Poland: the downfall of the Russian Empire and the entry of the USA in WW I. "...the two outside circumstances which will have a powerful bearing upon the equitable solution of the Polish Question."

The book was reviewed in 1918 by Robert J. Kerner in the AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW (the journal of the prestigious American Historical Association). Kerner (1887-1956) was a professor of history and Slavic studies at the Univ. of Calif., Berkeley. The book received a good review and over time other historians used it as a reference in writing history books about Europe.

The reason I investigated this book so thoroughly was because I absolutely love the way he presents the social history of Poland, step-by-step through time, i.e. the people, the classes, the nobles, the clergy, the peasants, the "outsiders", etc.

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What is the span of history that he covers?? Since when to when?

@pawian
He starts the first chapter be telling about a people the Latin chronicles called the "Poloni".They lived around the Warta, Odra and Notec Rivers.
The last chapter, which I have not got to yet, is entitled "The Polish Question and the Great War". So that would be 1917, the year the book was published. So the author covers about 950 years of history or so.

Here is a nice read on some Jewish history in Upper Silesia around Krakow that I found interesting.

msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/exploring-upper-silesia-natural-beauty-and-jewish-history-in-poland-s-industrial-heartland/ar-AA1oAzDW?ocid=hpmsn