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Poland in the Second World War
List of Maps and Illustrations - List of Abbreviations - Preface - Introduction - The Outbreak of War - The September Campaign in Poland - The Partition of Poland - The Underground under German and Soviet Occupation - Polish Government and Army in France - The Church - The Collapse of The Polish Government in London - The Rebuilding of the Polish Army in Great The Polish Air Force - The German Attack on USSR and the Uneasy Polish Alliance with Russia - The Polish Underground State - Further War Developments and Polish Participation - The Polish Army in Russia and its Evacuation - The Plight of the Polish Jews - The Polish Army in the Middle East and Crisis in London - Polish Communists in USSR - Underground Fight in Poland, Arrest of General Death of General Sikorski - Difficulties with 'Tempest', Teheran - Second Polish Corps in Italy, Other Polish Formations - New Developments in Poland, Monte Cassino, 'Tempest' - 'Tempest', Communists' Manifesto, attempt on Hitler's Life, Italy, 'Bridges' - The Warsaw Uprising - Polish Units in further Combat; Conference in Moscow - The Last Soviet Dissolution of the Home Army, Yalta - Conference in San Francisco, Provisional Government of National Unity, The Testament of Fighting Poland, End of the War - Notes - Bibliography - Index
408 pages, Hardcover
Published August 11, 1985
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February 16, 2023
oooo.... i'm the first person to write a review on Goodreads of a pretty dry book published in 1985/86 that no one else is ever going to read!! Yayyy!!! :)
But... just in case anyone does ever look this up on Goodreads:
The Good
- You won't find a book that covers this topic (Poland in WWII) as broadly and at times as minutely as this book by Garlinski. He really covers all angles you could hope for - the Polish government in hiding in the UK during the war; the various Polish units fighting the war on other fronts (Italy for example... with polish units being bundled in with other Allied units here and there); the polish home army fighting underground in Poland etc.
He has pretty well laid out chapters that cover all these various subtopics of the Polish war experience quite well.
- the book is in English... but by a Pole who was there on the ground. A huge problem for those of us, who only read English, and who are doing research on WWII (or other topics) is that the best sources are in German or Polish or Russian... so finding a quality book in English is a god send.
The Mixed
Garlinski was "there" beyond a doubt - he was in Poland, and from what I can tell was in the Home Army and was arrested by the Gestapo and detained etc. So he was very much "there" and experienced the war on a first-hand basis... BUT... he's also an academic and a historian... and the tone of the book is... odd at times.
There are times when you want the Garlinski who was "there" to keep going and explaining what it was really like to be in Warsaw and to have virtually no direction from the government in exile in London or from the titular head of Polish underground forces about whether or not to rise up vs the Germans and how to do so.
He seems at times to WANT to let loose and spout about that kind of thing... but then Garlinski the historian takes over and it just becomes another pretty dry overview of this or that event.
the Bad
There are some things which are just WAY TOO surface level... or unexplained.
At one point in talking about the Warsaw Uprising, he says, briefly, that the Germans committed atrocities.
Errrr... and that's it.
Meanwhile, in the Alexandra Richie book, we know that the Germans were piling up Polish civilian bodies by the TENS OF THOUSANDS in the streets of Warsaw... and all Garlinski, who was THERE, can say is that the Germans committed atrocities?
Holy smokes Jozef.... you can let loose a bit more than that...
Another example is on page 325... when he writes about the men who would become the "16" (16 leaders of the Polish underground who would be taken prisoner by the Russians):
They were already partly known to the Soviet authorities, as several weeks previously the British government, concerned for the safety of these people, had obtained them from the Poles and passed them on to Moscow.
WHAT!?!?!?
Reading between the lines - Garlinski seems to be saying that the British wanted these men protected from the GERMANS, and therefore got their names... but.... like complete and utter morons... gave those names of Polish underground leaders, to the RUSSIANS??!!
If that IS what he's saying... that's sheer lunacy! The British were without a doubt aware that the Russians couldn't be trusted and that never in a million years should you give information about Polish leaders to the Russians... but that is all Garlinski says regarding the British involvement... so... as with some other things in this book... not able to find your answers IN the book.. you have to google your way to something else that provides explanation.
So... i'm disappointed with this book because in places Garlinski just floats something random and doesn't explain it well enough and so you have to go elsewhere for follow-up.
The topic in general
Well - all sympathy to the Poles during WWII.
You get occupied by the Germans... do your utmost to fight them as they try to exterminate you from the country... and then... have to begin working with the Russians at the end of the war... totally knowing that the Russians hate you and your country almost as much as the Germans did.. and sure enough... they do things like arrest the "16" mentioned above... and take them back to Russia... and put on a show trial , accusing them of collaboration with the Germans, and throwing them in jail.
That - in one incident - explains the end of the war from the Polish perspective - going straight from German brutality to Russian totalitarian control.
But... just in case anyone does ever look this up on Goodreads:
The Good
- You won't find a book that covers this topic (Poland in WWII) as broadly and at times as minutely as this book by Garlinski. He really covers all angles you could hope for - the Polish government in hiding in the UK during the war; the various Polish units fighting the war on other fronts (Italy for example... with polish units being bundled in with other Allied units here and there); the polish home army fighting underground in Poland etc.
He has pretty well laid out chapters that cover all these various subtopics of the Polish war experience quite well.
- the book is in English... but by a Pole who was there on the ground. A huge problem for those of us, who only read English, and who are doing research on WWII (or other topics) is that the best sources are in German or Polish or Russian... so finding a quality book in English is a god send.
The Mixed
Garlinski was "there" beyond a doubt - he was in Poland, and from what I can tell was in the Home Army and was arrested by the Gestapo and detained etc. So he was very much "there" and experienced the war on a first-hand basis... BUT... he's also an academic and a historian... and the tone of the book is... odd at times.
There are times when you want the Garlinski who was "there" to keep going and explaining what it was really like to be in Warsaw and to have virtually no direction from the government in exile in London or from the titular head of Polish underground forces about whether or not to rise up vs the Germans and how to do so.
He seems at times to WANT to let loose and spout about that kind of thing... but then Garlinski the historian takes over and it just becomes another pretty dry overview of this or that event.
the Bad
There are some things which are just WAY TOO surface level... or unexplained.
At one point in talking about the Warsaw Uprising, he says, briefly, that the Germans committed atrocities.
Errrr... and that's it.
Meanwhile, in the Alexandra Richie book, we know that the Germans were piling up Polish civilian bodies by the TENS OF THOUSANDS in the streets of Warsaw... and all Garlinski, who was THERE, can say is that the Germans committed atrocities?
Holy smokes Jozef.... you can let loose a bit more than that...
Another example is on page 325... when he writes about the men who would become the "16" (16 leaders of the Polish underground who would be taken prisoner by the Russians):
They were already partly known to the Soviet authorities, as several weeks previously the British government, concerned for the safety of these people, had obtained them from the Poles and passed them on to Moscow.
WHAT!?!?!?
Reading between the lines - Garlinski seems to be saying that the British wanted these men protected from the GERMANS, and therefore got their names... but.... like complete and utter morons... gave those names of Polish underground leaders, to the RUSSIANS??!!
If that IS what he's saying... that's sheer lunacy! The British were without a doubt aware that the Russians couldn't be trusted and that never in a million years should you give information about Polish leaders to the Russians... but that is all Garlinski says regarding the British involvement... so... as with some other things in this book... not able to find your answers IN the book.. you have to google your way to something else that provides explanation.
So... i'm disappointed with this book because in places Garlinski just floats something random and doesn't explain it well enough and so you have to go elsewhere for follow-up.
The topic in general
Well - all sympathy to the Poles during WWII.
You get occupied by the Germans... do your utmost to fight them as they try to exterminate you from the country... and then... have to begin working with the Russians at the end of the war... totally knowing that the Russians hate you and your country almost as much as the Germans did.. and sure enough... they do things like arrest the "16" mentioned above... and take them back to Russia... and put on a show trial , accusing them of collaboration with the Germans, and throwing them in jail.
That - in one incident - explains the end of the war from the Polish perspective - going straight from German brutality to Russian totalitarian control.
Displaying 1 of 1 review