A substantially revised and updated edition of the author's classic 1987 book, 'The Polish Way: A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and their Culture', which has been out of print since 2001. When Adam Zamoyski first wrote his history of Poland, in the 1980s, the country was in a state of subjugation, its living culture largely surviving only underground or in exile. Although the election of Karol Wojty'a as Pope John Paul II and the dramatic rise of Solidarno? had brought Poland into the world's consciousness, it was not until the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989 that it returned to life as a political entity. No nation's history has been so distorted as that of Poland. In 1797 Russia, Prussia and Austria divided the country up among themselves, rewriting history to give the impression that Poland had never been a fully sovereign state, only a backwater that needed civilising. In fact the country they had wiped off the map had been one of the largest and most richly varied in Europe, embracing a wide variety of cultural and religious traditions, accommodated within one of the boldest constitutional experiments ever attempted. Its destruction initiated a series of struggles that culminated in the two world wars and the Cold War. Today, after the turmoil of the past two centuries, Poland has been restored to its rightful place as one of the most homogeneous and vigorous nations of Europe.

Adam Zamoyski's full revision of his classic history is perfectly timed. Gold title * Adam Zamoyski is one of our top, bestselling historians, whose three previous books for HarperCollins - '1812', 'Rites of Peace' and 'Warsaw 1920' - have been hugely praised for their narrative brilliance. * The previous version of this book was a huge success, and remained in print from 1987 to 2001. It remains on the reading list of every school and university course on Polish language and history. * A large 'Polish Season' is being planned at government level for autumn 2009 and spring 2010, with exhibitions at the Royal Academy, British Museum, British Library, Imperial War Museum and Museum of London.