Heart of Europe The Past in Poland's Present [Paperback]

The image of Poland has once again been impressed on European consciousness. Norman Davies provides a key to understanding the modern Polish crisis in this lucid and authoritative description of the nation's history. Beginning with the period since 1945, he travels back in time to highlight the long-term themes and traditions which have influenced present attitudes.

His evocative account reveals Poland as the heart of Europe in more than the geographical sense. It is a country where Europe's ideological conflicts are played out in their most acute form: as recent events have emphasized, Poland's fate is of vital concern to European civilization as a whole.

This revised and updated edition tackles and analyses the issues arising from the fall of the Eastern Bloc, and looks at Poland's future within a political climate of democracy and free market.

1. The Legacy of Humiliation: Poland Since the Second World War
2. The Legacy of Defeat: Poland's Wartime Experience, 1939-1947
3. The Legacy of Disenchantment: Poland's Experiment in Independence, 1914-1939
4. The Legacy of Spiritual Mastery: Poland During the Partitions, 1795-1918
5. The Legacy of An Ancient Culture: Poland before 1795
6. Echoes: The Past In Poland's Present
7. Beyond History

another masterpiece.Heart of Europehas sweep, a rare analytical depth and a courageous display of the author's personal convictions. The book begins and ends with Solidarity; the unique labour movement thus serves as a frame for the nation's history. --New York Times Book Review

Norman Davies is chairman of the history department, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, at the University of London. He has been a visiting professor at Columbia and McGill Universities.