SUGGESTIONS FOR
FURTHER READING
Good books on Polish History in English are few and far between, though a determined
search will often be well rewarded. Historians in post-war Poland were seriously inhib-
ited by the Communist censorship, and little was produced by way of general works that
might prove attractive to foreign readers. As a result, the field was left open to historians
writing abroad. Adam Zamoyski's The Polish Way: a thousand years' history of the
Poles and their culture (London, 1989) offers a lively one-volume survey. A Concise
History of Poland by J. Lukowski and W.H. Zawadzki (Cambridge, 2001) also presents
an excellent introduction. The present work, God's Playground, could not be published
in People's Poland. But once the regime collapsed, it became, in translation as Bote
Igrzysko (Krakow, 1990), a best-seller.
Although most of the leading works on Polish History are written in Polish, a surpris-
ing number have been translated, and it is now standard practive for academic mono-
graphs published in Poland to contain a short summary in English, French, or German.
The quarterly journal Acta Poloniae Historica (Warsaw, 1959-) is devoted to presenting
recent historical research in translation.
Much valuable comment that is relevant to Poland can be found in studies of East
Central Europe as a whole. These would include:
- O. Halecki, Borderlands of Western Civilisation (New York, 1952.).
- P. Wandycz, The price of freedom: a history of east central Europe from the Middle
Ages to the present (London, 1991). - Robin Okey, Eastern Europe 1740-1980: feudalism to communism (London, 1982,
znd ed. 1986). - Richard Crampton, Eastern Eruope in the Twentieth Century: and after (London,
1997).
The standard works on Polish historical bibliography - H. Madurowicz-Urbanska ed.,
Bibliografia Historii (Warsaw, 1965-7), z vols, in eight parts; and J. Baumgart, S.
Gluszek eds., Bibliografia historii polskiej za lata 1944-66 (Wroclaw Cracow, 1952-68)
with annual continuations - assume a knowledge of Polish. A convenient guide for the
English reader, that is not completely outdated, is provided by Norman Davies, Poland,
Past and Present: a Select Bibliography of Works in English (Cambridge and
Newtonville, Mass., 1977). See also Janina W. Hoskins, Polish Books in English 1945-71
(Washington, DC, 1974); and Books in Polish or Related to Poland (London, 1950-1999).
The leading Polish historical journals include:
Kwartalnik Historyczny (Warsaw, 1889- )
Przeglqd Historyczny (Warsaw, 1905- )
Studia Historyczne (Llublin, 1968- )
Dzieje Najnowsze (Warsaw, 1947- )
Zeszyty Historyczne (Kultura) (Paris, 1962- )