Poland is a major European country with nearly 40 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 Traveller's History of Poland, John Radzilowski vividly describes
the beginnings of the country, first fragmented then reborn to overcome
the aggression of the Teutonic Knights and its greedy neighbors. Poland
enjoyed a Golden Age in the fifteen and sixteenth centuries but a
gradual decline then led to Poland losing its autonomy despite winning
many battles with its army's legendary military skill and gallantry. Yet
the spirit of the country and its people lived on.
Since the horrors of the Second World War and Soviet control, Poland has
gradually regained its rightful place in Europe, joining NATO in 1989
and in May 2004, the EU. It is playing a new role on the European and
international stage. This makes now an ideal time to introduce students
and travellers to Poland and its complex history.
The book includes a full chronology, a list of monarchs and rulers, a
gazetteer, historical maps and is fully illustrated.
