Norman Davies

'The past is a foreign country' has become a truism, yet the past differs from the present in many unfamiliar ways and historical memory is extraordinarily imperfect. The degree to which we think of the European past as the history of France, Germany, Britain, Russia and so on, actually obstructs our view of former reality, and blunts our sensitivity to the ever-changing political landscape. Europe's past is littered with kingdoms, empires and republics which no longer exist but which were some of the most important entities of their day - 'the Empire of Aragon', which dominated the western Mediterranean in the thirteenth century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the largest country in Europe for part of the eighteenth century. This book shows the reader how to peer through the cracks of mainstream history-writing, and to catch a glimpse of the 'Five, Six or Seven Kingdoms of Burgundy'. How long will it be before the USSR, until recently one of the world's two superpowers, is wholly or half-forgotten as most of these? The histories of the lost echo across the centuries, mixed in with more familiar sounds. One of the purposes of this book is to help us hear them again more clearly, and appreciate where they came from. As in his earlier celebrated books Europe and The Isles, Norman Davies aims to subvert our established view what looks familiar in history and urges us to look and think again. This stimulating book, full of unexpected stories, observations and connections, gives us a fresh and original perspective on European history.

The History of Half-Forgotten Europe

Vanished Kingdoms

Here is a masterpiece of historical narrative that stretches from the Ice Age to the Atomic Age, as it tells the story of Europe, East and West. Norman Davies captures it all-the rise and fall of Rome, the sweeping invasions of Alaric and Atilla, the Norman Conquests, the Papal struggles for power, the Renaissance and the Reformation, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe's rise to become the powerhouse of the world, and its eclipse in our own century, following two devastating World Wars. This is the first major history of Europe to give equal weight to both East and West, and it shines light on fascinating minority communities, from heretics and lepers to Gypsies, Jews, and Muslims. It also takes an innovative approach, combining traditional narrative with unique features that help bring history alive: 299 time capsules scattered through the narrative capture telling aspects of an era. 12 -snapshots offer a panoramic look at all of Europe at a particular moment in history. Full coverage of Eastern Europe—100 maps and diagrams, 72 black-and-white plates.All told, Davies’'s Europe represents one of the most important and illuminating histories to be published in recent years.

A History

Europe

This new edition of Norman Davies's classic study of the history of Poland has been revised and fully updated with two new chapters to bring the story to the end of the twentieth century. The author adopts a sceptical stance towards all existing interpretations of Polish history and attempts to bring a strong dose of common sense to his theme. He presents the most comprehensive survey in English of this frequently maligned and usually misunderstood country.

Volume 1: The Origins to 1795

God's Playground A History of Poland

The most comprehensive survey of Polish history available in English, God's Playground demonstrates Poland's importance in European history from medieval times to the present. Abandoning the traditional nationalist approach to Polish history, Norman Davies instead stresses the country's rich multinational heritage and places the development of the Jewish German, Ukrainian, and Lithuanian communities firmly within the Polish context. Davies emphasizes the cultural history of Poland through a presentation of extensive poetical, literary, and documentary texts in English translation. In each volume, chronological chapters of political narrative are interspersed with essays on religious, social, economic, constitutional, philosophical, and diplomatic themes. This new edition has been revised and fully updated with two new chapters to bring the story to the end of the twentieth century.

A History of Poland : in Two Volumes

God's Playground

Roger Moorhouse

In order to present a portrait of Central Europe, the authors study the history of Breslau. The history of this city embodies all the experiences which have made Central Europe what it is, such as the rich mixture of nationalities and cultures.

Portrait of a Central European City

Microcosm

This radical new history of the "British Isles, " written by the distinguished scholar and author of "Europe: A History, " offers a new perspective on the development of Britain and Ireland, looking at them not as self-contained islands, but as an inextricable part of Europe. 50 halftones. 12 maps.

The Isles

A leading historian re-examines World War II and its outcome. Davies asks readers to reconsider what they know about World War II, and how the received wisdom might be biased or incorrect. He poses simple questions that have complicated and unexpected ans

World War II in Europe, 1939-1945

No Simple Victory

Surprisingly little known, the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20 was to change the course of twentieth-century history. In White Eagle, Red Star, Norman Davies gives a full account of the War, with its dramatic climax in August 1920 when the Red Army - sure of victory and pledged to carry the Revolution across Europe to 'water our horses on the Rhine' - was crushed by a devastating Polish attack. Since known as the 'miracle on the Vistula', it remains one of the most decisive battles of the Western world. Drawing on both Polish and Russian sources, Norman Davies illustrates the narrative with documentary material which hitherto has not been readily available and shows how the War was far more an 'episode' in East European affairs, but largely determined the course of European history for the next twenty years or more.

The Polish-Soviet War, 1919-20 and "the Miracle on the Vistula"

White Eagle, Red Star

God's Playground: 1795 to the present

Geschiedenis van enkele Europese landen die als staatkundige eenheid zijn verdwenen, vanaf de vroege middeleeuwen tot de twintigste eeuw.

een verborgen geschiedenis van Europa

Vergeten koninkrijken

"From the Ice Age to the Cold War, from Reykjavik to the Volga, from Minos to Margaret Thatcher, this is the story of Europe in a single volume." - - Back Cover.

The most comprehensive survey of Polish history available in English, God's Playground demonstrates Poland's importance in European history from medieval times to the present.

God's Playground, a History of Poland: The origins to 1795

Traces the history of Poland and examines the social and political life of the country.

The Past in Poland's Present

Heart of Europe

'He writes history like nobody else. He thinks like nobody else ... He sees the world as a whole, with its limitless fund of stories' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times Where have the people in any particular place actually come from? What are the historical complexities in any particular place? This evocative historical journey around the world shows us. 'Human history is a tale not just of constant change but equally of perpetual locomotion', writes Norman Davies. Throughout the ages, men and women have endlessly sought the greener side of the hill. Their migrations, collisions, conquests and interactions have given rise to the spectacular profusion of cultures, races, languages and polities that now proliferates on every continent. This incessant restlessness inspired Davies's own. After decades of writing about European history, and like Tennyson's ageing Ulysses longing for one last adventure, he embarked upon an extended journey that took him right round the world to a score of hitherto unfamiliar countries. His aims were to test his powers of observation and to revel in the exotic, but equally to encounter history in a new way. Beneath Another Sky is partly a historian's travelogue, partly a highly engaging exploration of events and personalities that have fashioned today's world - and entirely sui generis. Davies's circumnavigation takes him to Baku, the Emirates, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Tasmania, Tahiti, Texas, Madeira and many places in between. At every stop, he not only describes the current scene but also excavates the layers of accumulated experience that underpin the present. He tramps round ancient temples and weird museums, summarises the complexity of Indian castes, Austronesian languages and Pacific explorations, delves into the fate of indigenous peoples and of a missing Malaysian airliner, reflects on cultural conflict in Cornwall, uncovers the Nazi origins of Frankfurt airport and lectures on imperialism in a desert oasis. 'Everything has its history', he writes, 'including the history of finding one's way or of getting lost.' The personality of the author comes across strongly - wry, romantic, occasionally grumpy, but with an endless curiosity and appetite for knowledge. As always, Norman Davies watches the historical horizon as well as what is close at hand, and brilliantly complicates our view of the past.

A Global Journey into History

Beneath Another Sky

Rob van Kan

Europa in oorlog

nie takie proste zwycięstwo

Europa walczy 1939-1945

Europa - między Wschodem a Zachodem

Die Geschichte des vergessenen Europa

Verschwundene Reiche

Europa

¿Cuál era el campo de concentración más grande que estuvo en funcionamiento en Europa entre 1939 y 1945? No era Auschwitz. ¿Qué país perdió la mayor cantidad de civiles entre 1939 y 1945? No fueron Francia ni Alemania. Con una mirada totalmente diferente sobre una parte de la historia de Europa que todos creemos conocer, Norman Davies contesta a éstas y muchas más preguntas. El estilo convincente, los argumentos sólidos y las conclusiones devastadoras de Davies nos obligan a revisar aquellos seis años y a desechar la visión habitual de la victoria del aliado bueno sobre el nazi malo. El final de la segunda guerra mundial supuso la derrota de un Estado totalitario –la Alemania nazi– por otro –la Unión Soviética–, cuyos crímenes fueron igual de trágicos, aunque quizá menos diabólicos; y para gran parte del continente, "la liberación" no fue más que el inicio de cincuenta largos años de opresión totalitaria.

Norman Davies

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