Rising '44
Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw is the title of a documented and illustrated historical account of the Warsaw Uprising, by British-Polish historian Norman Davies. It was mostly well received by specialists and commentators at the time of publication.
Author | Norman Davies |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Subject | Warsaw Uprising |
Publisher | Macmillan |
Publication date | 2003 |
One controversy surrounding this book is that Davies purposely anglicised most of the Polish proper names (including place names and pseudonyms used by Polish conspirators) in order to bring the reality of events closer to the English-speaking reader and help them concentrate on the narrative, rather than on the complexity of Polish names.
However Polish historian Jan Ciechanowski has taken grave exception to the work in more general terms:
- In the hands of Davies the Warsaw Rising has become his personal "plaything", the outpouring of his uncommonly overactive imagination, his huge arrogance and of his vast fantasy. In fact his knowledge about the Warsaw Rising is actually limited.
He has accused the author of so littering the book with factual and interpretative errors, (the number of all manner of errors in Davies' work is such, as to render his account of the Rising not wholly credible.)[1]
References
- Ciechanowski, Jan (2004). "Zmarnowana szansa (Uwagi i refleksje nad polskim wydaniem książki Normana Daviesa "Powstanie Warszawskie"" (PDF). Zeszyty Historyczne. 149: 100–117.
Davies, Norman (2003). Rising '44: the battle for Warsaw. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-90568-7.
Davies, Norman (2004). Rising '44: the battle for Warsaw. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-03284-0.
External links
- Carlo D'Este, "'Warsaw Will Be Liquidated'", review in The New York Times, July 25, 2004
- Krzysztof Renik, "Read All About It", review in Warsaw Voice, September 1, 2004