Book description
Rising '44 is a brilliant narrative account of one of the most dramatic
episodes in 20th century history, drawing on Davies' unique
understanding of the issues and characters involved. In August 1944
Warsaw offered the Wehrmacht the last line of defence against the Red
Army's march from Moscow to Berlin. When the Red Army reached the river
Vistula, the people of Warsaw believed that liberation had come. The
Resistance took to the streets in celebration, but the Soviets remained
where they were, allowing the Wehrmacht time to regroup and Hitler to
order that the city of Warsaw be razed to the ground. For 63 days the
Resistance fought on in the cellars and the sewers. Defenceless citizens
were slaughtered in their tens of thousands. One by one the City's
monuments were reduced to rubble, watched by Soviet troops on the other
bank of the river. The Allies expressed regret but decided that there
was nothing to be done, Poland would not be allowed to be governed by
Poles. The sacrifice was in vain and the Soviet tanks rolled in to the
flattened city. It is a hugely dramatic story, vividly and
authoritatively told by one of our greatest historians.
Norman Davies is a highly esteemed historian, Supernumary Fellow at
Wolfson College, Oxford and is a Fellow of the British Academy, the
Royal Historical Society and Professor Emeritus of London University.
He is also the author of several books, including the bestselling
Europe: A History and The Isles.
