The history of Poland is a fascinating study of a people struggling to
achieve nationhood in the face of internal and external enemies. Poland
became a unified Christian state in AD 966 and by the 12th century a
knightly class had emerged - a force that was integral to the defense of
Poland against increasingly frequent foreign invasions. Intent on
crushing rival Christian states, the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic
Knights all mounted attacks but were beaten back by the Poles, as were
invading Mongols and Turks. This book reveals the organization,
equipment and battle histories of the medieval Polish armies as they
developed and modernized to emerge as one of the dominant powers of
Eastern Europe.