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.

John Radzilowski is a writer and historian. He received his Ph.D. in history in 1999 with a specialization in East European History. He has written and spoken widely on Polish history and current affairs. He is the author or co-author of several books on Polish themes, including: Poland’s Transformation, Spanish Carlism and Polish Nationalism, The Eagle and the Cross: A History of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America. His articles have appeared in both Polish and English periodicals and reference works. In 1998 he received the Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit from the President of the Republic of Poland.