“While the authors largely agree that the main motif of Polish history is the way in which leaders and communities pursued modernization and nationalization in the modern era, each writes about these topics in unique and fascinating ways.” (Pol-int.org, 1 October 2015)
“Brian Porter-Szucs’s new book Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom is like a breath of fresh air . . . In sum, this is a splendid book and an optimistic one. Porter-Szucs tries to find some good in everyone (well, maybe not in Stalin), for which he is to be commended. This reviewer believes that his book will become the standard general work on recent Polish history.” (The Polish Review, 1 October 2014)
“Moving in a new direction, Porter-Szûcs’ work adds an important and distinct voice to the fray. It is a genuine attempt to look at Poland’s history through that new prism of a transnational spirit. It forces us to look at history in different ways―from the outside in, from the bottom up―and to rethink it in significant ways. Ultimately, at times, it challenges us to reconsider the existing master narrative.” (Cosmopolitan Review, 1 October 2015)
“Poland in the Modern World is a valuable contribution to central and eastern European historiography and the study of Communist and post-Communist societies. In presenting sophisticated insights from a variety of disciplines and from a comparative perspective, the author characterizes Poland’s history of the last two centuries as a history of neither winners nor losers. In doing so, he gets beyond stereotypes and clichés about the country, particularly the ‘national martyrology’ that informs much of Polish historiography.” (H-SAE, February 2015)
“Well researched, engagingly written, and full of striking anecdotes, Brian Porter-Szûcs’s Poland in the Modern World deserves a wide readership.” (Slavic Review, 1 October 2014)
“A remarkable achievement, Poland in the Modern World offers the stuff of real history. Instead of heroes and villains so often featured in national narratives, Porter-Szûcs emphasizes the everyday lives of ordinary people in a global context, bringing the history of modern Poland down to earth in an easily accessible yet highly informative text.”
―Robert Blobaum, West Virginia University
“By virtue of its avoidance of patriotic clichés, its comparative approach and the sophistication of its discussion of politics and economics, this comprehensive and well-written overview will be the first destination for all of us teaching the history of Poland in the modern era.”
―Antony Polonsky, Brandeis University
“There’s nothing remotely like this work out there. The approach is authoritative and enlightening yet in an interesting way “democratic”. Poland in the Modern World reads very well and will serve as an excellent basis for classroom discussion.”
―John Connelly, University of California at Berkeley
From the Inside Flap
This timely account of Poland’s modern history, from the end of the 19th century to the present day, positions the country within the context of Europe, using the events of Poland’s past to illustrate and illuminate the global forces that have transformed the world over the last century.
Challenging traditional, nationalistic accounts of heroism and tragedy, the author sets the major political events in Polish history alongside broader developments within society. He provides particular insight into the regional, cultural and economic diversity of the country, and focusses on the experience of individuals’ daily lives. For instance, readers learn of the day-to-day relations between people of differing religion and language between the two world wars, the realities of life in the Warsaw ghetto; what Stalin’s industrial expansion meant for the peasants who took up factory jobs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the effects of changing concepts of masculinity and femininity over time. The result is a lively and nuanced historical overview that recognizes both the particularities and the universality of modern Poland’s story.
From the Back Cover
This timely account of Poland’s modern history, from the end of the 19th century to the present day, positions the country within the context of Europe, using the events of Poland’s past to illustrate and illuminate the global forces that have transformed the world over the last century.
Challenging traditional, nationalistic accounts of heroism and tragedy, the author sets the major political events in Polish history alongside broader developments within society. He provides particular insight into the regional, cultural and economic diversity of the country, and focusses on the experience of individuals’ daily lives. For instance, readers learn of the day-to-day relations between people of differing religion and language between the two world wars, the realities of life in the Warsaw ghetto; what Stalin’s industrial expansion meant for the peasants who took up factory jobs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the effects of changing concepts of masculinity and femininity over time. The result is a lively and nuanced historical overview that recognizes both the particularities and the universality of modern Poland’s story.
About the Author
Brian Porter-Szücs is Professor of History at the University of Michigan, where he has taught since 1994. He is the author of Faith and Fatherland: Catholicism, Modernity, and Poland (2011) and When Nationalism Began to Hate: Imagining Modern Politics in Nineteenth-Century Poland (2000). He is also the co-editor, with Bruce Berglund, of Christianity and Modernity in Eastern Europe (2010).
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