Norman Davies
Encyclopedia
Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA
, FRHistS
(born 8 June 1939) is a leading English historian
of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe
, Poland
, and the United Kingdom
.
, Lancashire
, and studied in Grenoble
, France (1957–1958). He was a disciple of A. J. P. Taylor
at Magdalen College
, Oxford
, where he earned a B.A.
(history
, with honours) in 1962. He earned an M.A.
(1966) at University of Sussex
. He studied in Perugia
, Italy. He intended to study for a PhD
in the Soviet Union
but was denied an entry visa
. Instead, he went to Kraków
to study at the Jagiellonian University
and do research on the Polish–Soviet War. As this war was denied in the official communist Polish
historiography
of that time, he was obliged to change the title of his dissertation to The British Foreign Policy towards Poland, 1919–20. After obtaining a Ph.D. (1968) in Kraków, the English text appeared under the title White Eagle, Red Star. The Polish-Soviet War 1919–20 in 1972.
From 1971, Davies taught Polish history
at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies
(SSEES) of the University of London
, where he was professor
from 1985 to 1996. Currently, he is Supernumary Fellow
at Wolfson College, Oxford
. Throughout his career, Davies has lectured in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Poland, and in most of the rest of Europe as well.
Stanford University
controversially denied him a tenured faculty position in 1986.
In 1996, he retired from the professorial chair he had held in London since 1985.
(1981), a comprehensive overview of Polish history. In Poland, the book was published officially only after the fall of communism. In 2000, Davies' Polish publishers Znak published a collection of his essays and articles under the title Smok wawelski nad Tamizą ("The Wawel Dragon on the Thames"). It is not available in English.
In 1984, Davies published Heart of Europe, a briefer history of Poland. Interestingly, the chapters are arranged in reverse chronological order.
In the 1990s, Davies published Europe: A History
(1996) and The Isles: A History
(1999), about Europe and the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, respectively. Each book is a narrative interlarded with numerous sidepanel discussions of microtopics.
In 2002, at the suggestion of the city's mayor, Bogdan Zdrojewski
, Davies and his former research assistant, Roger Moorhouse
, co-wrote a history of Wrocław / Breslau, a Silesian city. Titled Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City
, the book was published simultaneously in English, Polish, German and Czech.
Davies also writes essays and articles for the mass media. Among others, he has worked for the BBC
as well as British and American magazines and newspapers, such as The Times
, The New York Review of Books
and The Independent
. In Poland, his articles appeared in the liberal Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny
.
Davies' book Rising '44. The Battle for Warsaw
describes the Warsaw Uprising
. It was followed by Europe at War 1939-1945: No Simple Victory (2006).
In 2008 Davies participated in the documentary film
"The Soviet Story
".
and Abraham Brumberg
, object to Davies' historical treatment of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland
. They accuse him of minimizing historic antisemitism, and of promoting a view that accounts of the Holocaust
in international historiography
largely overlook the suffering of non-Jewish Poles. Davies’s supporters contend that he gives due attention to the genocide and war crimes perpetrated by both Hitler
and Stalin
on Polish Jews and non-Jews. Davies himself argues that "Holocaust scholars need have no fears that rational comparisons might threaten that uniqueness. Quite the opposite." and that "...one needs to re-construct mentally the fuller picture in order to comprehend the true enormity of Poland’s wartime cataclysm, and then to say with absolute conviction ‘Never Again’."
In 1986, Dawidowicz’s criticism of Davies’ historical treatment of the Holocaust was cited as a factor in a controversy at Stanford University
in which Davies was denied a tenured faculty position for alleged "scientific flaws". Davies sued the university for breach of contract
and defamation of character, but in 1989 the court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction in an academic matter.
(since 2003), Lublin, Gdańsk
and Warsaw
(since 2007), memberships in the Polish Academy of Learning
(PAU) and the Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea, and fellowships of the British Academy
and the Royal Historical Society
.
Davies received an honorary DLitt degree from his alma mater the University of Sussex. Davies is also an honorary citizen of Polish cities of Warsaw
, Wrocław, Lublin
and Kraków
. Member of the committee for the Order of the Smile.
President of the Republic in exile Edward Raczyński
decorated Davies with the Order of Polonia Restituta. On December 22, 1998, President of Poland - Aleksander Kwaśniewski
awarded him the Grand Cross (1st class) of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
Norman Davies has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the European Association of History Educators
- EUROCLIO.
2008 he was given by the Estonian Republic Order of the Cross of St Mary’s Land 3rd Class.
, on 26 December 1966. They live in Oxford and Cracow, and have two sons.
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, FRHistS
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
(born 8 June 1939) is a leading English historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe
History of Europe
History of Europe describes the history of humans inhabiting the European continent since it was first populated in prehistoric times to present, with the first human settlement between 45,000 and 25,000 BC.-Overview:...
, Poland
History of Poland
The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
, and the United Kingdom
History of the United Kingdom
The history of the United Kingdom as a unified sovereign state began with the political union of the kingdoms of England, which included Wales, and Scotland on 1 May 1707 in accordance with the Treaty of Union, as ratified by the Acts of Union 1707...
.
Academic career
Davies was born to Richard and Elizabeth Davies in BoltonBolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and studied in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, France (1957–1958). He was a disciple of A. J. P. Taylor
A. J. P. Taylor
Alan John Percivale Taylor, FBA was a British historian of the 20th century and renowned academic who became well known to millions through his popular television lectures.-Early life:...
at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, with honours) in 1962. He earned an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(1966) at University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
. He studied in Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
, Italy. He intended to study for a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
but was denied an entry visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
. Instead, he went to Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
to study at the Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
and do research on the Polish–Soviet War. As this war was denied in the official communist Polish
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
of that time, he was obliged to change the title of his dissertation to The British Foreign Policy towards Poland, 1919–20. After obtaining a Ph.D. (1968) in Kraków, the English text appeared under the title White Eagle, Red Star. The Polish-Soviet War 1919–20 in 1972.
From 1971, Davies taught Polish history
History of Poland
The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies is a school of University College London . It is the largest centre for the study and research of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and Russia in the United Kingdom...
(SSEES) of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, where he was professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
from 1985 to 1996. Currently, he is Supernumary Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
at Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College, Oxford
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with over sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research and junior research fellows. It caters to a wide range of...
. Throughout his career, Davies has lectured in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Poland, and in most of the rest of Europe as well.
Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
controversially denied him a tenured faculty position in 1986.
In 1996, he retired from the professorial chair he had held in London since 1985.
Work
The work which established Davies' reputation in the English-speaking world was God's PlaygroundGod's Playground
God's Playground is a book written in 1979 by Norman Davies, covering the history of Poland.Davies was inspired to the title by Jan Kochanowski's 1580s Boże igrzysko ....
(1981), a comprehensive overview of Polish history. In Poland, the book was published officially only after the fall of communism. In 2000, Davies' Polish publishers Znak published a collection of his essays and articles under the title Smok wawelski nad Tamizą ("The Wawel Dragon on the Thames"). It is not available in English.
In 1984, Davies published Heart of Europe, a briefer history of Poland. Interestingly, the chapters are arranged in reverse chronological order.
In the 1990s, Davies published Europe: A History
Europe: A History
Europe: A History is a narrative history book by Norman Davies.As Davies notes in the Preface, the book contains little that is original. Primary research wasrarely required. Twelve chapters span the European past from prehistory till the disintegration...
(1996) and The Isles: A History
The Isles: A History
The Isles: A History is a narrative history book by Norman Davies.Similar to the earlier Europe: A History, Davies is not trying to present any new history, but does want to tackle what he sees as historiographical biases in the treatment of the history of Britain and Ireland.Ten chapters span the...
(1999), about Europe and the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, respectively. Each book is a narrative interlarded with numerous sidepanel discussions of microtopics.
In 2002, at the suggestion of the city's mayor, Bogdan Zdrojewski
Bogdan Zdrojewski
Bogdan Zdrojewski is a Polish politician who was the first president of Wrocław after the fall of communism in Poland, and held the seat from 1990 to 2001. Afterwards he was a senator and member of the Polish Sejm. Since November 2007, he has been the Minister of Culture and National...
, Davies and his former research assistant, Roger Moorhouse
Roger Moorhouse
Roger Moorhouse is a British historian and author. Born in Stockport, Cheshire, he was raised in Hertfordshire and attended Berkhamsted School. Inspired to return to education by the East European Revolutions of 1989, Moorhouse enrolled in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the...
, co-wrote a history of Wrocław / Breslau, a Silesian city. Titled Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City
Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City
Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City is a book by Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse about the history of Wrocław.-Content:The book opens with a description of the siege and fall of German Breslau at the very end of the Second World War. Attacking Red Army reduces many streets of the city...
, the book was published simultaneously in English, Polish, German and Czech.
Davies also writes essays and articles for the mass media. Among others, he has worked for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
as well as British and American magazines and newspapers, such as The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. In Poland, his articles appeared in the liberal Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny
Tygodnik Powszechny
Tygodnik Powszechny is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, focusing on social and cultural issues. Established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, Jerzy Turowicz was its editor-in-chief until his death in 1999. He was succeeded by priest Adam Boniecki.-History:The...
.
Davies' book Rising '44. The Battle for Warsaw
Rising '44. The Battle for Warsaw
Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw is a history book about the Warsaw Uprising, written by the English historian Norman Davies. One controversy about this book is that Davies consciously anglicised most of proper names in the book to order to bring its reality closer to the English reader and help...
describes the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
. It was followed by Europe at War 1939-1945: No Simple Victory (2006).
In 2008 Davies participated in the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
"The Soviet Story
The Soviet Story
The Soviet Story is a 2008 documentary film about Soviet Communism and Soviet-German collaboration before 1941 written and directed by Edvīns Šnore and sponsored by the UEN Group in the European Parliament....
".
Criticism
Some historians, most vocally Lucy DawidowiczLucy Dawidowicz
Lucy Schildkret Dawidowicz was an American historian and an author of books on modern Jewish history, in particular books on the Holocaust.-Life:...
and Abraham Brumberg
Abraham Brumberg
Abraham Brumberg was a Jewish American writer and editor. He is known for writing about the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Jewish issues...
, object to Davies' historical treatment of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland
Holocaust in Poland
The Holocaust, also known as haShoah , was a genocide officially sanctioned and executed by the Third Reich during World War II. It took the lives of three million Polish Jews, destroying an entire civilization. Only a small percentage survived or managed to escape beyond the reach of the Nazis...
. They accuse him of minimizing historic antisemitism, and of promoting a view that accounts of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
in international historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
largely overlook the suffering of non-Jewish Poles. Davies’s supporters contend that he gives due attention to the genocide and war crimes perpetrated by both Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
on Polish Jews and non-Jews. Davies himself argues that "Holocaust scholars need have no fears that rational comparisons might threaten that uniqueness. Quite the opposite." and that "...one needs to re-construct mentally the fuller picture in order to comprehend the true enormity of Poland’s wartime cataclysm, and then to say with absolute conviction ‘Never Again’."
In 1986, Dawidowicz’s criticism of Davies’ historical treatment of the Holocaust was cited as a factor in a controversy at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in which Davies was denied a tenured faculty position for alleged "scientific flaws". Davies sued the university for breach of contract
Breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance....
and defamation of character, but in 1989 the court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction in an academic matter.
Awards and distinctions
Davies holds a number of honorary titles and memberships, including honorary doctorates from the universities of the Jagiellonian UniversityJagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
(since 2003), Lublin, Gdańsk
Gdansk University
- History :The University of Gdańsk was established in 1970 by the amalgamation of the Higher School of Economics in Sopot and Gdańsk College of Education .- School Authorities :* Rector: Prof. dr hab. Bernard Lammek...
and Warsaw
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw is the largest university in Poland and one of the most prestigious, ranked as best Polish university in 2010 and 2011...
(since 2007), memberships in the Polish Academy of Learning
Polish Academy of Learning
The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning , headquartered in Kraków, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences....
(PAU) and the Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea, and fellowships of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
and the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
.
Davies received an honorary DLitt degree from his alma mater the University of Sussex. Davies is also an honorary citizen of Polish cities of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Wrocław, Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
and Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. Member of the committee for the Order of the Smile.
President of the Republic in exile Edward Raczyński
Edward Raczynski
Edward Raczyński was the name of three members of a Polish aristocratic family:* Edward Raczyński Polish conservative politician, protector of arts, founder of the Raczynski Library in Poznań...
decorated Davies with the Order of Polonia Restituta. On December 22, 1998, President of Poland - Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Aleksander Kwasniewski
Aleksander Kwaśniewski is a Polish politician who served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s...
awarded him the Grand Cross (1st class) of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
Norman Davies has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the European Association of History Educators
European Association of History Educators
The European Association of History Educators was established in 1992 with the support of the Council of Europe. EUROCLIO is an International NGO that actively functions as a European wide facilitator for innovation and progress in History Education...
- EUROCLIO.
2008 he was given by the Estonian Republic Order of the Cross of St Mary’s Land 3rd Class.
Personal
Norman Davies married Maria Korzeniewicz, a Polish scholar born in Dąbrowa TarnowskaDabrowa Tarnowska
Dąbrowa Tarnowska is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Tarnów. It is the capital of Dąbrowa County. Before reorganization Dąbrowa Tarnowska was part of Tarnów Voivodeship . Population is 11'402...
, on 26 December 1966. They live in Oxford and Cracow, and have two sons.
Publications
- 1972: White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War, 1919–20White Eagle, Red StarWhite Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War, 1919-20 is a 1972 book covering the Polish-Soviet War written by Norman Davies. This monograph is Davies' first book....
. (2004 edition: ISBN 0-7126-0694-7) - 1977: Poland, Past and Present. A Select Bibliography of Works in English. ISBN 0-89250-011-5
- 1981: God's PlaygroundGod's PlaygroundGod's Playground is a book written in 1979 by Norman Davies, covering the history of Poland.Davies was inspired to the title by Jan Kochanowski's 1580s Boże igrzysko ....
. A History of Poland. Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795, Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-925339-0 / ISBN 0-19-925340-4. - 1984: Heart of Europe. A Short History of Poland. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-285152-7.
- 2001: Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present Oxford University Press, USA; New edition ISBN 0-19-280126-0
- 1991: Jews in Eastern Poland and the USSR, 1939–46. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-06200-1
- 1996: Europe: A HistoryEurope: A HistoryEurope: A History is a narrative history book by Norman Davies.As Davies notes in the Preface, the book contains little that is original. Primary research wasrarely required. Twelve chapters span the European past from prehistory till the disintegration...
. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-820171-0 - 1997: Auschwitz and the Second World War in Poland: A lecture given at the Representations of Auschwitz international conference at the Jagiellonian University. Universitas. ISBN 83-7052-935-6
- 1999: Red Winds from the North. Able Publishing. ISBN 0-907616-45-3
- 1999: The Isles. A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513442-7
- 2002 (with Roger MoorhouseRoger MoorhouseRoger Moorhouse is a British historian and author. Born in Stockport, Cheshire, he was raised in Hertfordshire and attended Berkhamsted School. Inspired to return to education by the East European Revolutions of 1989, Moorhouse enrolled in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the...
): Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European CityMicrocosm: Portrait of a Central European CityMicrocosm: Portrait of a Central European City is a book by Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse about the history of Wrocław.-Content:The book opens with a description of the siege and fall of German Breslau at the very end of the Second World War. Attacking Red Army reduces many streets of the city...
London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-06243-3 - 2004: Rising '44. The Battle for WarsawRising '44. The Battle for WarsawRising '44: The Battle for Warsaw is a history book about the Warsaw Uprising, written by the English historian Norman Davies. One controversy about this book is that Davies consciously anglicised most of proper names in the book to order to bring its reality closer to the English reader and help...
. London: Pan Books. ISBN 0-333-90568-7 - 2006: Europe East and West: A Collection of Essays on European History. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-06924-1
- 2006: Europe at War 1939–1945: No Simple Victory. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-69285-3
- 2011: Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe. Allen Lane. ISBN 9781846143380
Further reading
- Snowman, Daniel "Norman Davies" p. 36–38 from History Today, Volume 55, Issue 7, July 2005.
- America, December 18, 1982, p. 394.
- American Historical Review, April, 1991, p. 520.
- American Scholar, fall, 1997, p. 624.
- Atlantic Monthly, December, 2002, Benjamin Schwarz, review of God's Playground: A History of Poland, p. 127.
- Booklist, September 15, 1996, p. 214; December 15, 1997, Gilbert Taylor, "A History of Europe," p. 682; February 1, 2000, p. 1006; May 1, 2004, Jay Freeman, review of Rising '44: The Battle of Warsaw, p. 1538.
- Commentary, March, 1987, p. 66.
- Current History, November, 1984, p. 385.
- Economist, March 6, 1982, p. 104; February 10, 1990, p. 92; November 16, 1996, p. S3; December 4, 1999, p. 8; April 27, 2002, "What's in a Name: Central European History."
- History Today, May, 1983, p. 54; March, 2000, Robert Pearce, "The Isles: A History," p. 55.
- Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2004, review of Rising '44, p. 256.
- Library Journal, March 15, 1997, p. 73; February 1, 2000, p. 100.
- Nation, November 21, 1987, p. 584.
- National Review, June 5, 2000, John Derbyshire, "Disunited Kingdom"; May 17, 2004, David Pryce-Jones, "Remember Them," p. 46.
- New Republic, November 15, 1982, p. 25; September 22, 1997, p. 36.
- New Statesman, May 21, 1982, p. 21; August 31, 1984, p. 26.
- New Statesman & Society, December 20, 1996, Norman Davies, "How I Conquered Europe," pp. 36–38; October 17, 1997, David Herman, review of Europe: A History, pp. 30–32; May 15, 1998, Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, "The Hunted, Not the Hunters," p. 35. November 15, 1999, Alistair Moffat, "Jobs and Foxes Will Flee to England," p. 35; December 13, 1999, Geoffrey Wheatcroft, "Forging Our History," p. 57.
- New York Review of Books, September 29, 1983, p. 18; May 15, 1997, p. 30.
- New York Times Book Review, December 5, 1982, p. 52; March 4, 1984, p. 34; December 23, 1984, p. 5; June 22, 1986, p. 34; December 7, 1986, p. 84; December 1, 1996, p. 15.
- Observer (London, England), October 10, 1999, Andrew Marr, "A History Lesson for Wee Willie," p. 29.
- Publishers Weekly, August 26, 1996, p. 83; November 24, 1997, "A History of Europe," p. 64; January 24, 2000, p. 301.
- Sunday Times (London, England), October 17, 1999, Niall Ferguson, "Breaking up Is Hard to Do if You're British," p. NR4.
- Times (London, England), October 30, 1999, Richard Morrison, "Britain Dies as Mr. Tough Rewrites the Past," p. 21.
- Wilson Library Bulletin, October, 1986, p. 68.
- World and I, August, 2004, Richard M. Watt, "The Warsaw Insurrection: How Polish Capital Ferociously Resisted World War II Occupiers."*
External links
- Small English homepage at www.normandavies.com
- "Review of Europe at War"
- Britain and the Warsaw Rising. Essay, 2004.
- Official press release on the case of Davies vs. Stanford University
- A Polish site about Norman Davies (in Polish), includes a gallery and parts of translated text
- Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's Heritage
- BBC Interview with audio and transcript