God's Playground is a book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

 written in 1979 by Norman Davies

Norman Davies

Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :...

, covering the history of Poland

History of Poland

The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...

.

Davies was inspired to the title by Jan Kochanowski

Jan Kochanowski

Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language.He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz, and the greatest Slavic poet, prior to the 19th century.-Life:Kochanowski was born at...

's 1580s Boże igrzysko (Mankind: Bauble of the Gods).

The book (or two, as many editions are split into two volumes) has received good reviews in international press and is considered by many historians and other scholars to be one of the best English-language books on the subject of history of Poland. The author received several Polish honours.

Volume I: The Origins to 1795

God's Playground is divided into the following chapters:

I. Introduction: The Origins to 1572

1. Millenium: A Thousand Years of History

2. Polska: The Polish Land

3. Piast: The Polonian Dynasty (to 1370)

4. Anjou: The Hungarian Connection (1370-1386)

5. Jogaila: The Lithuanian Union (1386-1572)

II. The Life and Death of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic (1569-1795)

6. Antemurale: The Bulwark of Christendom (Religion)

7. Szlachta: The Nobleman's Paradise (Society)

8. Handel: The Baltic Grain Trade (Economy)

9. Miasto: The Vicissitudes of Urban Life (The Cities)

10. Anarchia: The Noble Democracy (Constitution)

11. Serenissima: Diplomacy in Poland-Lithuania (Foreign Affairs)

12. Valois: The French Experiment (1572-1575)

13. Bathory: The Transylvanian Victor (1576-1586)

14. Vasa: The Swedish Connection (1587-1668)

15. Michał: The Austrian Candidate (1669-1673)

16. Sobieski: Terror of the Turk (1674-1696)

17. Wettin: The Saxon Era (1697-1763)

18. Agonia: The End of the Russian Protectorate (1764-1795)

For a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, go to God's Playground: Volume I - Chapter Synopsis

Volume II: A History of Poland: 1795 to the Present v. 2

I. Poland Destroyed and Resurrected

1. NARÓD: The Growth of the Modern Polish Nation (1772-1945)

2. ROSSIYA: The Russian Partition (1772-1918)

3. PREUSSEN: The Prussian Partition (1772-1918)

4. GALICIA: The Austrian Partition (1773-1918)

5. FABRYKA: The Process of Industrialization

6. LUD: The Rise of the Common People

7. KOŚCIÓŁ: The Catholic Church in Poland

8. KULTURA: Education and the National Heritage

9. ŻYDZI: The Jewish Community

10. WOJSKO: The Military Tradition

11. EMIGRACJA: The Polish Emigration

12. VARSOVIE: The Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1915)

13. KONGRESÓWKA: The Congress Kingdom (1815-1846)

14. CRACOVIA: The Republic of Cracow (1815-1846)

15. WIOSNA: The Springtime of Other Nations (1848)

16. REVERIES: The Thaw and the January Uprising (1855-1864)

17. REWOLUCJA: Revolution and Reaction (1904-1905)

18. FENIKS: The Rebirth of the Polish State (1914-1918)

19. NIEPODLEGŁOŚĆ: The Twenty Years of Independence (1918-1939)

20. GOLGOTA: Poland in the Second World War (1939-1945)

21. GRANICE: The Modern Polish Frontiers (1919-1945)

II. Contemporary Poland since 1944

22. PARTIA: The Communist Movement

23. POLSKA LUDOWA: The Polish People's Republic

Postscript

Note: "to the present" refers to early 1980s, when Davies finished his work. Subsequent editions include chapters updating the book with review of the 1980s decades as well as a revised introduction. Davies also wrote a special introduction for the Polish edition.

Editions

English:

• Columbia University Press, 1979
• Oxford University Press, 1981, ISBN 0198225555 (vol. 1), ISBN 019822592X (vol. 2)
• Columbia University Press, 1982, ISBN 0231053509 (vol. 1) and ISBN 0231053525 (vol. 2)
• Columbia University Press, 1983
• Oxford University Press, 1983, ISBN 019821944X (vol. 2)
• Columbia University Press, 1984, ISBN 0231053517 (vol.1), ISBN 0231053533 (vol. 2)
• Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0199253390 (vol. 1) and ISBN 0199253404 (vol. 2)
• Columbia University Press, 2005, ISBN 0231128177 (vol. 1), ISBN 0231128193 (vol. 2)

Polish:

• bibuła edition in the 1980s
• ZNAK 1989, ISBN 8370060528
• ZNAK 1994, ISBN 8370063314
• ZNAK 1999
• ZNAK 2006, ISBN 8324006540

External links

• Google Books online preview