Heart of Europe

The image of Poland has once again been impressed on European consciousness. Norman Davies provides a key to understanding the modern Polish crisis in this lucid and authoritative description of the nation's history. Beginning with the period since 1945, he travels back in time to highlight the long-term themes and traditions which have influenced present attitudes. His evocative account reveals Poland as the heart of Europe in more than the geographical sense. It is a country where Europe's ideological conflicts are played out in their most acute form: as recent events have emphasized, Poland's fate is of vital concern to European civilization as a whole. This revised and updated edition tackles and analyses the issues arising from the fall of the Eastern Block, and looks at Poland's future within a political climate of democracy and free market.

The image of Poland has once again been impressed on European consciousness. Norman Davies provides a key to understanding the modern Polish crisis in this lucid and authoritative description of the nation's history. Beginning with the period since 1945, he travels back in time to highlight the long-term themes and traditions which have influenced present attitudes. His evocative account reveals Poland as the heart of Europe in more than the geographical sense. It is a country where Europe's ideological conflicts are played out in their most acute form: as recent events have emphasized, Poland's fate is of vital concern to European civilization as a whole. This revised and updated edition tackles and analyses the issues arising from the fall of the Eastern Block, and looks at Poland's future within a political climate of democracy and free market.

An Economist and Sunday Times Best Book of the Year "Ambitious...seeks to rehabilitate the Holy Roman Empire's reputation by re-examining its place within the larger sweep of European history...Succeeds splendidly in rescuing the empire from its critics." -- Wall Street Journal "Engrossing...Wilson is to be congratulated on writing the only English-language work that deals with the empire from start to finish...A book that is relevant to our own times." --Brendan Simms, The Times "The culmination of a lifetime of research and thought...an astonishing scholarly achievement." -- The Spectator "Remarkable...Wilson has set himself a staggering task, but it is one at which he succeeds heroically." -- Times Literary Supplement Massive, ancient, and powerful, the Holy Roman Empire formed the heart of Europe from its founding by Charlemagne to its destruction by Napoleon a millennium later. An engine for inventions and ideas, with no fixed capital and no common language or culture, it derived its legitimacy from the ideal of a unified Christian civilization--though this did not prevent emperors from clashing with the pope for supremacy. In this strikingly ambitious book, Peter H. Wilson explains how the Empire worked, why it was so important, and how it changed over the course of its existence. The result is a tour de force that raises countless questions about the nature of political and military power and the legacy of its offspring, from Nazi Germany to the European Union.

An Economist and Sunday Times Best Book of the Year "Ambitious...seeks to rehabilitate the Holy Roman Empire's reputation by re-examining its place within the larger sweep of European history...Succeeds splendidly in rescuing the empire from its critics." -- Wall Street Journal "Engrossing...Wilson is to be congratulated on writing the only English-language work that deals with the empire from start to finish...A book that is relevant to our own times." --Brendan Simms, The Times "The culmination of a lifetime of research and thought...an astonishing scholarly achievement." -- The Spectator "Remarkable...Wilson has set himself a staggering task, but it is one at which he succeeds heroically." -- Times Literary Supplement Massive, ancient, and powerful, the Holy Roman Empire formed the heart of Europe from its founding by Charlemagne to its destruction by Napoleon a millennium later. An engine for inventions and ideas, with no fixed capital and no common language or culture, it derived its legitimacy from the ideal of a unified Christian civilization--though this did not prevent emperors from clashing with the pope for supremacy. In this strikingly ambitious book, Peter H. Wilson explains how the Empire worked, why it was so important, and how it changed over the course of its existence. The result is a tour de force that raises countless questions about the nature of political and military power and the legacy of its offspring, from Nazi Germany to the European Union.