About this title: The story of the Warsaw Rising from the author of The Isles and Europe: A History who is also the leading British authority on the history of Poland. Rising '44 is a brilliant narrative account of one of the most dramatic episodes in 20th century history, drawing on Davies' unique understanding of the issues and characters involved. In August 1944 ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pan Books
Date Published: 2004-08-31
ISBN-13:9780330488631ISBN:0330488635
Description: Fair. Exact ISBN/item shown. Better than acceptable condition but with definite wear. Good, solid reading condition with moderate to considerable use. Cover shows fading to lettering and bends/small curl to corners. Clean pages show very slight age-tone; NO writing or tears--some slight curl to tips of some page corners near front/back. Minor wear/aging to closed edges--though there is one mis-bound page that is too large and sticks out on one side. Binding shows wear, some weakness due to ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pan Books
Date Published: 2004-08-31
ISBN-13:9780330488631ISBN:0330488635
Description: Good. Mild shelf and corner wear; Mild spine crease; Tanning to page edges; Mild rubbing and wear to covers and spine; ** Free USPS tracking and confirm on US orders ** read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Adult
Date Published: 2004-05-11
ISBN-13:9780670032846ISBN:0670032840
Description: Very Good. Like new hardcover in excellent condition with dust jacket intact, reminder mark, a few pages are slightly bent at the top, no writing, non-smoking home, clean text, binding tight, Christian business. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Press, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780670032846ISBN:0670032840
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. First Edition book fine and fine dust jacket. With archival Brodart mylar to protect the jacket at no extra cost. A sharp unread copy. read more
Description: Fine. By Norman Davies; ISBN: 0143035401; Pub. : Penguin (Non-Classics); Pub. Date: 2005-10-04; Media: Paperback; Weight: 25.6 oz.; Just a shade below like new. Covers have light edgewear. A couple cover corner tips are slightly bent. Cover has light surface wear. Binding is very good. Pages have no marks or indications of any use. by Norman Davies; ISBN: 0143035401; Pub. : Penguin (Non-Classics); Pub. Date: 2005-10-04; Media: Paperback; Weight: 25.6 oz.; Just a shade below like new. Covers ... read more
Edition: First American Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Press, New York
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780670032846ISBN:0670032840
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-8"-9" Tall. Cream paper over boards, lightly soiled, with black binding. xxxvi, 752 pp. Photos. Notes, indes. Dust jacket, rubbed at corners, in fresh protective mylar. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pan Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780330488631ISBN:0330488635
Description: Acceptable. EXCELLENT value for money and ready for dispatch. Delivery usually within 3/5 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
Edition: Book of the Month Club Edition.
Binding: Hardbound
Publisher: Viking Press, New York
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780670032846ISBN:0670032840
Description: 8vo (about 8'' to 9.5'' tall) 752 pages. Appendices, notes, index. Description: Includes three sections of b&w plates; the appendices contain several maps. In August of 1944, Warsaw appeared to be the last major obstacle to the Soviet army's triumphant march from Moscow to Berlin. When the Wehrmacht was pushed back to the Vistula River, the people of Warsaw believed that liberation was at hand. The Polish Resistance poured forty thousand armed fighters into the streets to drive out the hated ... read more
Edition: (1st American Edition-BCE
Binding: Hardbound
Publisher: Viking, NY
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780670032846ISBN:0670032840
Description: FINE/Fine. As new. In August 1944 the Polish Resistance tried to take Warsaw back from the German SS and Wehrmacht. They battled for 63 days, street by street, and tens of thousands of Polish citizen died as the city was reduced to rubble. The great tragedy was that the Russian army was on the opposite side of the Vistula River, within sight of the city, but was ordered not to advance and help the resistance. read more
"I read this when I was about 14 or 15 and I remember being completely gripped by it. Definitely required reading if you have an interest in European history. If only all history books were written like this..."
"Davies concentrates on the brewing storm of politics, internal and external, just as much as the events of the Uprising itself, which limits its utility as a straight-ahead conflict narrative but provides a deep contextual framework for the doomed events of August, 1944. Lucid and well written, engaging and well worth reading."
Okay, the mean bits first. The book was mis-titled, poorly edited, and full of so many cognitive leaps, it could have formed its own Irish dance troupe. If this weren't billed as a history book, these flaws might be tolerable; but lets deal with them one by one.
Mis-titled: The book is titled Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw. A reasonable person would assume from that title that we were going to read about this Rising. But instead, the thesis we get to read is "Given that the Allied were vicious scuzzbags, and that vicious scuzzbaggery during the Rising explains everything about Eastern Europe, here is the story from '39 to '91, oh and Gentile-Jewish Pole relations were wonderful".
Editing: The book needed to be shorter, they needed to stop him from copy-pasting entire words/phrases/paragraphs throughout the book. They needed to make sure all his vignettes actually had something to do with the part of the book in which they were referenced. Make sure that all the vignettes were actually referenced. Stop him from randomly replacing famous Pole names with made up names he liked better, etc, etc, etc.
Cognitive Leaps: History books shouldn't be full of words/phrases "clearly", "obviously", "we can guess that", "no doubt". Especially when the thought shoots off at a right angle to the text. When the cognitive leaps get so big, even he can't express them as a fact with good conscience, he maligns through implication. "Many would guess that ...". Even a few of these are tolerable (to me) in a book, but they just don't stop, often several times a page.
Nice bits. While I had to slog through the last half of the book ('46-'90 in random order), there were some bits I did enjoy. Unfortunately, my purpose was to learn more about this uprising, and all I learned is that the British/American effort was larger than I thought.
He did point out two great books that either need to be written or already exist, waiting for me to read them. A book on the failures of the Western Allies intelligence system when it came to the USSR, and a book on the '44 Warsaw Rising"
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