The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and authoritative
Review: Zamoyski's detailed history can be ponderous at times. His choice of phrases and sentence structure can make for some slow going. The book's major weakness, in terms of what I'd like to know more about, is it's lack of discussion about the daily lives of Polish people of various classes throughout history. It tends, like most histories, to focus on the lives and activities of the "movers and shakers," the aristocrats who shaped Polish history until the 20th century. It is long on fact, somewhat short on color and soul. But... having said that, it is an excellent work of history. The detail is rich, and it opens many windows on the Polish nation. It is, on balance, and excellent work, if not always an easy read. There may be more that can be known about Poland than this book presents, but once the reader has digested this volume, his knowledge will indeed be comprehensive. Highly recommended.