Book Review – God’s Playground Volume II

Hello,

Just the other day I finished reading the second installment of Norman Davies’ God’s Playground series. The second book is titled God’s Playground A History of Poland: Volume II 1795 to the Present. Again, this book took me awhile to read in between my Bachelor Degree classes and family life, but reading this book was well worth the time.

This installment carries on with Poland’s story right after the final partition of Poland in 1795 and through Poland’s rebirth as an independent nation. Norman Davies divided this book into two main sections: Poland Destroyed and Reconstructed, 1795-1945 and Contemporary Poland since 1944.

Again, similar to my first review of God’s Playground Vol. I,  I will highlight the major topics in the book which are the different cultures, politics, diplomacy, religions, commerce, urban life, wars, leaders, royalty, and the ever changing borders of Poland. Keep in mind that the area of Poland had many different ethnic groups living there: Poles, Ruthenians (Ukrainians), Belarusians, Germans, Lithuanians, Jewish, …. Within this book, Norman Davies provides great detail about life under each partition (Austrian, Prussian, and Russian), the Polish Uprisings, both World Wars, independence between each war, the years of Poland’s communist regime, and Poland’s renewed independence as a democratic country.

If you would like to know more details about Poland and its history, I highly recommend reading God’s Playground A History of Poland: Volume 1 The Origins to 1795 and God’s Playground A History of Poland: Volume II 1795 to the Present. The books are available through bookstores and libraries.

Best Regards,
Al