Nation and History: Polish Historians from the Enlightenment to the Second World War

by Peter Brock (Editor), John Stanley (Editor), Piotr J. Wróbel (Editor)

The important scholarly achievements of Polish historians remain largely unknown outside Poland. In Nation and History , editors Peter Brock, John Stanley, and Piotr J. Wróbel have brought together twenty-four essays on Polish historians from the Enlightenment to the Second World War, an era of unparalleled changes in every aspect of Polish life. From the late eighteenth century until 1918, the Polish state was partitioned between its three Russia, Prussia (Germany), and Austria. Polish historiography throughout this period tended to focus on the reasons behind the old Polish state's decline and fall. This shaped Polish historians' vision of their country's past and created the burden of not only having to discuss the state, but the issue of 'nation' – its essence, its shape, and its failure. The contributors to this volume – from Poland and abroad – closely examine the role played by historians in both the documenting and shaping of Poland's history. While featuring different approaches, Nation and History serves as the most comprehensive work on Polish historiography written in English.

Hardcover

First published January 21, 2006

About the author

A specialist in the history of pacificsm and Eastern Europe, Peter Brock studied at Exeter College, Oxford, where he came under the influence of pacifist ideas, particularly those of Bart de Ligt. During the Second World War, he declared as a conscientious objector and was briefly imprisoned before spending the remainder of the war on alternative service.

After the war, Brock worked with a Quaker relief mission to Germany and Poland, sparking his interest in Eastern Europe. After the mission ended, Brock took graduate study at Jagiellonian University, receiving a doctorate in history in 1950. He earned a second doctorate at Oxford in 1954 and subsequently emigrated to Canada, where he taught at the University of Toronto from 1966 until his retirement.