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Rising '44
 
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Rising '44 (Hardcover)

by Norman Davies (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 752 pages
  • Publisher: Macmillan (17 Oct 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0333905687
  • ISBN-13: 978-0333905685
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 73,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #7 in  Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Resistance > Warsaw Uprising
    #8 in  Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > Historians > Davies, Norman
    #11 in  Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Countries > Poland

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Product Description

Review
A thorough recounting of what the author considers to be "one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century"-and surely one of the most shameful betrayals in the world annals. By Davies's (History/London Univ.; The Isles, 2000, etc.) account, the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 has been all but buried in Western and Russian history books as a source of deep embarrassment. It is not to be confused, he hastens to add, with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of the previous year, an attempt by Jewish partisans to break the Nazi stranglehold on the city. This uprising, equally heroic, involved elements of the underground Polish Home Army, working in collaboration with resistance units and commandos. They aimed to open a great battle within the Polish capital of Warsaw in support of the advancing Red Army, which by August of 1944 was nearing the banks of the Vistula River. They did so: 40,000 Polish fighters went up against a vastly larger German force. The occupiers were not exactly prepared for the uprising, though, as Davies notes, "Capital cities awaiting liberation were dangerous places. Everyone knew that something could erupt at any moment." Astonishingly, the Red Army halted its advance, allowing the Germans to regroup and stop the uprising. Davies charts the course of that great betrayal, which he considers a deliberate effort on the part of the Soviets to crush the non-Communist Polish resistance-which had been highly effective against the Nazi enemy, responsible for the assassination of "a whole grisly gallery of SS and Gestapo men" as well as the deaths of hundreds of ordinary German soldiers. But he also implicates the other Allies; even though Churchill had proposed sending Stalin a message saying, "Our sympathies are aroused for these almost unarmed people whose special faith has led them to attack German tanks, guns, and planes," in the end the West did nothing to save the Home Army. "Every single member of the Allied community [holds] a share of the responsibility" for the betrayal, Davies insists. And here he issues a resounding indictment. (Kirkus Reviews)

John Crossland, Sunday Times, 2 November 2003
'Passionate and impressive'

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Destined to become the standard volume on the subject, 11 Nov 2004
By Thomas Koetzsch (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw (Paperback)
Curiosity made me pick up Rising 44. I was born after the war, but I remember my parents telling me that there was a rising in Warsaw in 1944 but that it failed because the rising was sold out by the Russians. Having read the book I can't escape the conclusion that Poland was screwed by everyone, the British, the Russians and the Americans.

In part one, Norman Davies does an in-depth study of the history leading up to the rising. He thoroughly discusses all the political factions and their various aims and political manoeuvrings. Following this network can be a bit confusing but Norman Davies manages to explain the complexity of the matter in readable style. His naming Poland as "The First Ally" in the first part of the book does become a bit tedious but I suppose he does it to remind his western audience of the fact.

The Rising is similarly accounted in detail. It was sold out by Russian opposition to the whole undertaking and American indifference. It would appear that the Rising and ultimately Poland was sacrificed over the larger picture of winning the war against Nazi Germany with the Allies cuddling the Russian bear, sometimes, to extremes.

Part three deals with the aftermath. Having opposed the Rising in the first place the Stalin-installed Polish Government went after the survivors of the Rising. To me personally this is the most tragic part of the book. Instead of receiving gratitude and honour for rising against the oppressor, there is only the torture chamber and prison. The people who staged the Rising have only really come into their own since communism fell in 1989.

I like Norman Davies' use of capsules. When you read the book you will do yourself a favour if you read the capsules as you progress through the book. They provide the emotional companion to the narrative.

I don't mind that Norman Davies uses English abbreviations instead of the original Polish names, but I prefer it that way due to my lack of knowing the Polish language.

Norman Davies' work properly recounts the Warsaw rising for the first time. His book is destined to be come the standard volume on the subject. You won't find any better.

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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A mammoth book; a must-read, 23 Jul 2004
By John Williams (Llansadwrn, Wales/Cymru) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw (Paperback)
I was born after the war, and have, I suppose, an average amount of knowledge/ignorance about it. I had some awareness of the Ghetto Uprising, but had never heard of the Warsaw Uprising until I visited Warsaw with my Polish son in law. He explained in simple terms what had happened in 1944 as we walked round the city centre and the restored 'old town'. I was returning to Poland this summer, shortly after the release of the paperback edition of this book, so could not resist taking it with me.

This is a mammoth book. Really it is more than one book. The Warsaw Uprising is at its centre, but it would also serve as a good general introduction to the Second World War in Europe as well as the Cold War that followed and the recent emergence of modern Poland. It is thoroughly reseached with a great variety of sources, and written in a very readable style.

Davies seems to have a mission to tell the world about Poland. He loves Poland and the Poles love him. (During my recent visit he starred on at least two current affairs TV programmes, speaking perfect Polish of course.) This, together with the passionate pro-Polish stance of the book, makes me wonder whether it is as balanced as it is possible to be, but never mind. Who wants a fence sitter, anyway?

The descriptions of the fighting, the backstage political machinations of all the allies, and the great variety of individual characters involved are gripping. The book is long but not tedious; I was left with the feeling of having read several books and of having learned a lot about a subject that is more interesting and more central to the story of modern Europe than I had ever imagined.

I had one or two beefs about the style and layout. I don't really think Davies needed to take all of those liberties with Polish personal and place names, and to refer to Poland not by its name but as 'The First Ally' throughout the first section of the book was a bit annoying. The 'capsules' interspersed throughout Davies' narrative were all very readable, but made the reading of the book a rather disjointed experience. Perhaps it would be better to ignore them initially, and read them all afterwards. But these are minor irritations that could never detract from the five star status of this book.

The obvious comparisons are with Antony Beevor's books on Stalingrad and Berlin. Like Davies, I may be a little biased due to my Polish connections, but I think this book knocks spots off both of them.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive New Work, 11 May 2004
By Jay Orbik (DeKalb, IL United States) - See all my reviews
The only other work dedicated to the uprising that I could find available in English was T. Komorowski's "The Secret Army." This new book goes much deeper into the political dealings surrounding the decisions made and provides a much more comprehensive look at the subject using the latest and best sources currently available. I really liked this book. I have been a big fan of Norman Davies’ work for some time and I like some of the techniques he uses in the book, including the vignettes. But I absolutely hated his use of Anglicized names for the Polish proper names and place names. I found it completely distracting to have to refer to the appendices to find who or where he was talking about. I think it would have done a greater service to readers interested in Polish history to keep the names in Polish and cross reference them to English in the Appendix and not the other way around. A cross reference of the key players and their positions in the organizations would have been helpful as well. All in all I found the book to be an excellent read and I highly recommend it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The definitive work?
There appears to be a dearth of accounts of the Warsaw uprising of 1944. Several previous reviewers have already explained how it is confused in the public mind with the ghetto... Read more
Published 1 day ago by Phil

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrice betrayed
On the surface, this book is a very detailed and thorough description of the Warsaw uprising against the German occupation in the autumn of 1944. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Thomas Dunskus

4.0 out of 5 stars A book worthy of attention
This book is a rather lofty tome, but worth the read. It deals with the awful betrayal of the Polish Resistance, not only by the Soviet forces, but by the allies in the West. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mrs. TK Ellis

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magnificent Account of the Battle for Warsaw 1944
This magnificent book must be the definitive work in English on the uprising of the Poles in Warsaw in 1944 against their German oppressors. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dr. R. Brandon

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw Truth Hurts
Having recently returned from a business trip to Warsaw, but having the opportunity to visit the Warsaw Rising museum - a deeply moving and disturbing experience - I bought and... Read more
Published on 1 May 2007 by Book Raven

5.0 out of 5 stars Poles don't give up.......ever
A soul stirring book. A nation with along tradition of rebellion, the Poles were always going to rise..it was just a matter of when. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2007 by bobm

4.0 out of 5 stars A fitting history of a little-understood heroic stand
There are some aspects of World War II, believe it or not, that are under-reported, or at least aren't studied as much as others. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2006 by David Roy

3.0 out of 5 stars Bit too much based on the politics for me
I won't deny the excellent research - take the introduction where the author makes a fine description of the house where the signal is received from Warsaw, saying the rising has... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2005 by C. J. Crouch

5.0 out of 5 stars Tribute to Polish bravery
Davies is right in pointing to the fact that in the West there hardly has been recognizing for all what happened in the East during the Second World War. Read more
Published on 10 Jul 2005 by L. C. Huyveneers

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read!
My Polish girlfriend bought this for me as she knows I like military history. I had confused this episode of history with the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Read more
Published on 5 April 2005 by I. Gowan

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