Poland

When Adam Zamoyski first wrote his history of Polandsbquo; in the 1980ssbquo; the country was in a state of subjugationsbquo; its living culture largely surviving only underground or in exile. Although the election of Karol Wojty?a as Pope John Paul II and the dramatic rise of Solidarno?? had brought Poland into the worldprime;s consciousnesssbquo; it was not until the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989 that it returned to life as a political entity. No nationprime;s history has been so distorted as that of Poland. In 1797 Russiasbquo; Prussia and Austria divided the country up among themselvessbquo; rewriting history to give the impression that Poland had never been a fully sovereign statesbquo; only a backwater that needed civilising. In fact the country they had wiped off the map had been one of the largest and most richly varied in Europesbquo; embracing a wide variety of cultural and religious traditionssbquo; accommodated within one of the boldest constitutional experiments ever attempted. Its destruction initiated a series of struggles that culminated in the two world wars and the Cold War. Todaysbquo; after the turmoil of the past two centuriessbquo; Poland has been restored to its rightful place as one of the most homogeneous and vigorous nations of Europe. Adam Zamoyskiprime;s full revision of his classic history is perfectly timed.