The Eagle Unbowed. Poland and the Poles in the Second World War by Halik Kochanski (review)

Abstract

THE EAGLE UNBOWED. POLAND AND THE POLES IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR Halik Kochanski. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2012. xxxi + 734 pp.World War II is the most traumatic event in the history of a catastrophe of biblical proportions. Thousands of books and articles have been devoted to the contribution to this but most of them concentrate on particular events, military operations, organizations, diplomatic negotiations, and other individual phenomena related to World War II. All these publications cannot substitute a general panoramic history of Poland during the war. There are only a handful of books of this kind and most of them are either outdated or unimpressive. situation is particularly difficult if one looks for publications in English. appearance of the book under review awoke great expectations by scholars, educators, and general English language readers. To most of them a history of Poland during World War II is an unknown topic. Eagle Unbowed can change this. Unfortunately, due to many shortcomings, it cannot be accepted as a definite work in this field.The book, supplemented with two appendices (Order of Battle of the 1939-1945 and Principal Personalities), is divided into 18 chapters. first, The Rebirth of Poland, offers a history of Poland in a nutshell. next three chapters depict the unfolding events in a chronological order: Polish Foreign Policy, 1920-1939, The September 1939 Campaign, and The German and Soviet Occupation of Poland to June 5, Exile in the Soviet Union, describes the tragic fate of the citizens deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. next chapter, Escape from the Soviet Union, shows how a part of these deportees moved to Iran with the Army formed in Russia in late 1941. 7, Poland's Contribution to the Allied War Effort, 1940-1943, reviews participation in the French campaign, the Battle of Britain, and the Allied intelligence. 8, Polish Non-combatants Outside 1941-1943, portrays refugee communities all over the world and is followed by chapters The Dark Years: Occupied 1941-1943, The Holocaust, 1941-1943, and Sikorski's Diplomacy, 1941-1943. 12 and 13, Threats to the Standing of the Government-in-Exile and the Underground Authorities and The Dilemma: Retreat of the Germans and the Advance of the Red Army, describe the worsening of the situation in 1943 and 1944. 14, Poland: Inconvenient Ally, describes a desperate diplomatic fight for the postwar borders and sovereignty of Poland. In chapter 15, Fighting under British Command, 1943-1945, the author returns to military history but chapter 16, The End of War, is again about diplomacy, the Yalta Conference, and the Allied compromise on a new government in Poland. 17, The Aftermath of the War, depicts the post-1945 near civil war in Poland and the situation of the Poles in the West. The Final Chapter is devoted to the struggle for the truth about the Katyn massacre and to the contemporary reckoning with the history of World War II. …