Review of "Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw" by Norman Davies

His wife from the country and the two owning a home there in addition to a residence in Britain, Poland is once again the setting of a Norman Davies’ book.  But where God’s Playground and Poland, Past and Present survey the history of Polish culture (must be ‘culture’ as for significant time periods no country existed) from various perspectives, Rising ’44: The Battle for Warsaw focuses on a two month event that occurred in Warsaw toward then end of WWII.  Germany feeling the effects of its losses on other warfronts around the world, in mid-1944 the underground Polish remaining in Warsaw saw hope that their city could be reclaimed and staged a rebellion to coincide with the arrival of their allies, the mighty Soviet Red Army.  The outcome of the situation could only have been more tragic for those who lived through it.

Davies divides Rising ’44 into three sections: stage setting, the uprising itself, and the aftermath.  Rather than attempting to outlay the players and game board in linear fashion, Davies opts to divide the first section into three parts: the Germans, the Russians, and the Poles and their allies.  Each group is introduced, their goals outlined, and status set at the time just preceding the rebellion.  Having the effect of three roads converging at an intersection, the uprising bursts from the text in affective detail at the start of the second section.  

Based on the amount of data included, trivial to vital, Davies and his team examined all available records related to the plight of the native Poles and Jews in hiding in Warsaw in the summer of 1944.  Their underground routed through a network of sewers and tunnels, the Poles—with promised but limited assistance from British, Russian, and American allies—maintained their position with guerilla warfare throughout the war, using and salvaging the most basic of weapons.  The Germans never able to fully exterminate them, in August and September that year the Poles switched into full attack mode in the belief their Russian allies arriving on the city’s doorstep would step in and help.  The final section of the book deals with the aftermath of this battle, in particular the state of Polish society and politics from the end of the rebellion until now.  

For those with more than background knowledge of WWII, the opening section can be skipped as many other books offer more exhaustive detail about the movement and mindset of allied and axis powers during the war prior to 1944.  The Warsaw Uprising itself, however, is not to be missed.  The focus of the book, Davies brings it to life in both touching and graphic detail.  Diaries, official documents, written accounts, and verbal histories are all used toward painting a picture of what life was like for the Poles living and hiding in the city, not to mention fighting to reclaim it.  The food shortages, transportation methods, weapons training, communication with the outside world, even a media network are described as they affected events that transpired.  The Germans only mostly portrayed as ruthless oppressors, many of the individual stories involving interaction between the two sides are emotional and transcend scholarly accounts of history.

Davies’ writing, as usual, strikes a middle ground between cut and dry facts and engaging prose.  Confidently and consistently expressed, the uprising comes to life beneath the author’s pen.  What also comes to life is an acknowledged agenda.  Aside from the main goal of bringing attention to the details of the uprising, another of Davies’ goals in Rising ’44, is to emphasize the negative effects of Stalinism.  Not as subtle as the information related in his Europe: A History, Davies’ version of the Warsaw Uprising condemns Soviet involvement in the situation every bit as much as the Nazi’s.  The aftermath section in particular contains specific examples tailored to highlight the atrocities the Soviet “allies” committed against the Poles during and after the war.  Soviet realpolitik not garnering the attention of Nazism has in the half-century since, Rising ’44 makes further inroads toward bringing to light the darker side of Stalin’s regime.

In the end, Rising ’44 is informative and engaging reading for those interested in the history of Poland and WWII.  While the earlier Europe: A History saw Davies riding on the coattails of previous research, Rising ’44 shows the historian and his team more than capable of doing their homework.  The two month window in the history of Warsaw during WWII is examined from many angles and with specific details.  Though biases against the Nazis and Soviets are undisguised, the text suffers none for it.  An emotionally engaging history of the people living beneath the streets of Warsaw and their rebellion against oppression, this is one of Davies’ best works, the quality of human stories that emerge from the chaos worth the price, alone.

Review of "Europe: A History" by Norman Davies

Extremely few cultures in the world can lay claim to having recorded their history for more than the past millennia, let alone two or three.  Egypt, Persia, and China have to some extent, however, it is only Europe that has collectively done so consistently—an amazing feat for a continent featuring hundreds of differing, adapting, and warring cultures over the years.  Norman Davies’ undertaking to relate the entire history of Europe, past to present, is ambitious to say the least.  

The result is Europe: A History, a volume more than a 1,300 pages in length, including appendices featuring raw data in the form of graphs, charts, maps, family trees, and statistics in support of the facts supplied in the narrative.  Davies begins in pre-historic times before Europe had a name, slowly breaking down the major events and developments which have brought the continent to where it presently stands.  Not a focus on the glories of Rome and British empires, Davies exhibits and an even hand throughout, doling out page space to the lesser-known cultures and countries of the continent as well.  Poland, Romania, Scandanavia, the former Yugoslavia, etc. all find their place in European history thanks to the attention of Davies.  

As it stands, however, the book is precisely that: an overview of European history.  Readers seeking details of particular places or times should look into historical works more closely related to the region, culture, or era of interest.  Europe is more light reading, at least as light as thousands of years of history compressed into one large volume can be.

When confronting the reading of such a mammoth block of text, it’s important to consider the style of writing.  Poorly written prose unbearable at such a length, Davies does not disappoint.  Occupying a point somewhere between scholarly and contemporary, Davies never leaves the layperson behind in the details or formality of his writing.  At the same time, scholars will appreciate the informative manner in which facts are related. Never condescending to assume the reader is implicitly of certain historical facts, Davies works from square-one, ensuring the material is available to all readers. 

There are potential faults in the book.  Mankind in disagreement over what happened a decade ago, reports on history a thousand years of age are bound to raise a few objectors.  We will leave that to the scholars, however.  A second point may be the lack of anything truly groundbreaking.  The opening line of the preface stating “This book contains little that is original”, readers hoping for something fresh they haven’t encountered in other history books may be disappointed.  Davies writes clearly in the introduction that Europe is a survey rather than intricate or unique look at every detail of the continent’s past.  Thus, scholars be warned nothing new to be found here.  The book is fully intended for people with little knowledge of events as a whole in Europe who want to know more.

In the end, Europe: A History is the best survey of European history currently on the market.  Covering the immense time span of the pre-historic to the end of the 20th century, readers looking for detailed expositions of individual cultures or eras should look elsewhere.  Like an ongoing epic, Davies relates Europe’s history with an eye to the whole, forever conscious of how events in the east affect the west, or how political regimes failing from within allowed weaker kingdoms to rise.  Educated historians perhaps taking issue with some of the data Davies presents (little of history is not contentious), few, however, will argue with the overall scope of outcomes.  Thus, the book comes recommended for anyone looking for an overview of the important events that have shaped the European continent, all written in quality prose.  With an eye to including even the less prominent cultures, it is an interesting story.