The Struggles for Poland

by Neal Ascherson

Ascherson traces political and social events in Poland through the restoration of independence in 1918, the horrors of Nazi and Soviet occupation, the heroic Warsaw uprising and the creation of the Communist state, to their culmination in the rise of Solidarity in 1980 and Jaruselski's coup in 1981.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Poland

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Charles Neal Ascherson (b. 1932) is a Scottish journalist and writer.

He was born in Edinburgh and educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he read history and graduated with a triple starred first. He was described by the historian Eric Hobsbawm as "perhaps the most brilliant student I ever had. I didn't really teach him much, I just let him get on with it."

Ascherson's books include The King Incorporated: Leopold II (1963), The Polish August (1982), The Struggles for Poland (1987), Games with Shadows (1989), Black Sea (1996), Stone Voices (2002), and The Death of the Fronsac (2017).

He was the cental and eastern Europe correspondent for The Observer for many years. He also covered southern and central Africa for The Observer and The Scotsman from 1969 - 1989 and was the politics correspondent for The Scotsman from 1975 - 1979.

In the aftemath of Scotland's first devolution referendum in 1979, Ascherson was one of the editors of The Bulletin of Scottish Politics (1980-81). From 1998 until 2008, he was editor of Public Archaeology, a journal from the Institute of Archaeology at UCL, as well as a columnist for The Observer and Independent on Sunday 1985 - 2008.

He lives in London and Argyll.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was impressed with the portion of this book that I needed for the novel I'm working on. Ascherson writes in a relaxed style that isn't so formal as to take the life out of his subject. I was surprised to learn how the Poles had fought back against the Nazis and the Soviets to keep their country independent. Long after WWII was finished, the Poles were still fiercely independent, despite the puppet government's efforts to subjugate the masses. The Poles indomitable spirit won out as the earned their freedom when the Soviet Union crashed in 1990.
I grew up in the area near Buffalo, NY. There were many Polish families in my little town and more in the area around us. My best friend was Polish and I spent a lot of time with his family. I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in history. It is a great overview of the entire span of Polish history...even as the country disappeared and reappeared several times during the modern ages.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living part of my life in Poland, it is important that I understand as much as possible the history of the Polish people and the country that they have fought so long and hard to maintain and/or establish through hundreds of years of unfriendly takeover bids. This book does just that and although it is so packed with far more details that I can even pretend to remember, like peoples' names, treaty alliances, wars within and with neighbours, and constant political challenges, this book has really helped me to appreciate how and why one can be so proud to be Polish, or in my case be associated with the country by marriage.