Our survey of books about Hungary in the Second World War found lamentably few titles devoted to that subject. On the other hand, there are hundreds of English-language books about Poland's wartime history. Here we've tried to identify and offer thumbnail descriptions of the most important books in that growing literature, organizing them into several categories. While strictly in terms of numbers these categories and these books merely scratch the surface of the Polish experience of war, they provide a solid foundation for anyone studying this subject. Note that the literature in the Polish language is absolutely vast, from publishers in Poland as well as emigre sources such as the Sikorksi Institute in London.
Coutouvidis, John and Jaime Reynolds. Poland 1939-1947. Leicester:
Leicester University Press, 1986.
Little on the 1939 invasion, but otherwise probably the best single volume on Poland during the war, with extra chapters on the immediate post-war years.
Garlinski, Jozef. Poland in the Second World War. New York:
Hippocrene Books, 1985.
Less scholarly than the Coutouvidis volume, but a good overall perspective with more on military operations and military forces.
Lukas, Richard C. The Strange Allies: The United States and Poland, 1941-1945. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennesse Press, 1978.
Very good on the ups and downs of US-Polish relations.
Okonski, Walter. Wartime Poland, 1939-1945: A Select Annotated
Bibliography of Books in English. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
A bibliography of more than 400 English-language titles on this topic. An excellent starting point for many different aspects of Poland at war. Read our review
Watt, Richard M. Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918-1939. New
York: Barnes and Noble, 1998.
Although it concludes with the the 1939 invasion, this is a valuable explanation of what led up to the outbreak of war. Especially useful when read in conjunction with Coutouvidis.
| 1939 campaign and immediate aftermath |
Bethell, Nicholas. The War Hitler Won: The Fall of Poland, September, 1939. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972
A good, broad survey but focusing less on Poland itself and more on the events in London, Paris, Berlin, and Moscow during the invasion and the weeks afterward. Little on military aspects.
Gross, Jan T. Revolution from Abroad: The Soviet Conquest of Poland's Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988.
Some information on the Soviet invasion, but mostly on the social and political consequences of the Soviet occupation, and largely told through personal accounts.
Kennedy, Robert M. The German Campaign in Poland, 1939. Washington:
Dept. of the Army, 1956.
A bit dated, and with more information on German operations and forces than Polish, but still an essential source on the 1939 campaign.
Sword, Keith (editor). The Soviet Takeover of the Polish Eastern
Provinces, 1939-41. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.
Two strong chapters on the Soviet invasion (with a map and Soviet OB), with other contributions covering POWs, resistance, refugees, "sociological aspects," etc. The Soviet OB, by the way, in some cases contradicts Zaloga's OB and in some cases fills in missing areas.
Zaloga, Steve and Victor Madej. The Polish Campaign, 1939. New
York: Hippocrene Books, 1985.
Absolutely the best book on the opposing forces and the campaign, with emphasis on the Poles. Accompanied by strong photos, maps, OBs, diagrams and more.
Bor-Komorowski, T. The Secret Army. New York: Macmillan, 1951.
The first half of the book covers formation of the Home Army and the author's rise to command it. The second half covers the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 in considerable detail, ending with surrender and imprisonment.
Cyprian, Tadeusz and Jerzy Sawicki. Nazi Rule in Poland, 1939-1945.
Warsaw: Polonia Pub. House, 1961.
Written during the Cold War and translated from the original Polish. Thorough and useful, but not always as carefully documented or coldly objective as one might prefer.
Orpen, Neil D. Airlift to Warsaw: The Rising of 1944. Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1984.
Less about the Warsaw Uprising itself and more about the inter-Allied disputes over how best to support the rising, with the bulk of the book devoted to harrowing tales of bombers and their crews pressed into service dropping supplies to the Home Army.
Zawodny, J. K.. Nothing But Honour: The Story of the Warsaw Uprising, 1944. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1978.
The best account of the Warsaw Uprising. Meticulously documented at the level of international politics and individual actions. Important for authoritatively documenting the events, but also movingly written.
| Polish Army and ground operations |
Anders, Wladyslaw. An Army in Exile: The Story of the Second Polish Corps. London: Macmillan & Company, 1949
Despite the title and chapters on his II Corps operations in Italy, Anders devotes much of the book to describing his part in the campaign of 1939, his capture and imprisonment by the Soviets, his release, formation of the units for service with the Allies, and key events such as Katyn and the Warsaw Uprising.
Baluk, Stefan. Poles on the Frontlines of World War II, 1939-1945. Warsaw: ARS Print Production, 1995.
This is a big one. Mostly photos, but overall there is so much here it really transcends the genre. More than 600 oversized pages packed with photos and captions covering every aspect of all Polish armed forces. Many galleries of portraits of leading figures (including, for example, a two-page spread of the Polish and German generals in the 1939 campaign). Explanatory text for each chapter, a chronology, many detailed maps, some OB and TOE notes. Six strong chapters about the Polish People's Army on the Russian front.
Bieganski, Witold. Poles in the Battle of Narvik. Warsaw: Interpress Publishers, 1969.
A small, slender volume, but the best English-language account of the Podhale Brigade in action in Norway.
Bieganski, Witold. Poles in the Battle of Western Europe. Warsaw: Interpress Publishers, 1971.
Covers all aspects of Polish forces in the 1944-45 campaign: mostly First Armored Division, but also the 1st Airborne Brigade, naval forces, air forces, and even Poles in the French and Belgian underground.
Madeja, Witold (editor). The Polish 2nd Corps and the Italian Campaign,
1943-1945. Allentown, PA: Game Publishing. Co., 1984.
One of the odd little silver-covered books from Game Publishing combining, abridging, and sometimes butchering material from the public domain, in this case largely from reports prepared by the Polish Historical Section. There are many problems with this volume (even Madeja says he "...accepts full blame for the many shortcomings of this book"), but it is nevertheless full of primary material not readily available anywhere else.
Peszke, Michael Alfred. Battle for Warsaw, 1939-1944. Boulder, CO:
East European Monographs, 1995.
Despite the title, Peszke's real topics are the military forces and strategy of the Polish government in exile. Although it covers all the important political and diplomatic landmarks along the way, the book mostly discusses the raising of combat units, how the Poles wanted to employ them, and how they were actually committed to operations. Ends with the failure of the Warsaw Rising, and does not cover Polish units in Soviet service.
Zaloga, Steven J. and Richard Hook. The Polish Army, 1939-45. London: Osprey, 1982
Part of the "Men-at-Arms" series. The usual blend of photographs plus color plates of uniforms and equipment, with an overview of Polish operations and considerable information on forces, all up to Zaloga's excellent standards. Two informative pages on the Polish People's Army on the Russian front.
| Polish Air Force and air operations |
Cynk, Jerzy B. The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History.
Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1998 (two volumes)
The best overall account of all Polish air operations during the war, from 1939 through the Polish units and pilots flying with the RAF. Good text, photos, and OBs. Read our review
Gretzyngier, Robert. Poles in Defence of Britain: A Day-by-Day
Chronology of Polish Day and Night Fighter Operations, July 1940 - June
1941. London: Grub Street, 2001
Narrowly focused on the Battle of Britain period, and extremely detailed. Read our review
Peezkowski, Robert and Bartlomiej Belcarz. White Eagles: The Aircraft,
Men, and Operations of the Polish Air Force, 1918-1939. Aldershot,
England: Hikoki, 2000.
A thorough examination of the Polish Air Force,
but it concludes with the Polish campaign of 1939 and doesn't cover the
Battle of Britain or later PAF operations.
Lisiewcz, M. et al. Destiny Can Wait: History of the Polish Air Force
in WWII. Nashville: Battery Press, 1988.
Originally published in 1949, this is a "preliminary"
account and "...not intended to be the final history of the Polish Air
Force in the Second World War." Rather than a scholarly study, outlines
Polish participation in the air throughout the entire war with heavy
emphasis on personal stories. About twenty pages on the Battle of Britain
period.
Zamoyski, Adam. The Forgotten Few: The Polish Air Force in the Second
World War. New York: Hippocrene, 1996.
Mostly a story of the men themselves, where they came from, their motivations, and what they individually accomplished.
| Polish Navy and naval operations |
Kosiarz, Edmund. Poles on the Seas, 1939-1945. Warsaw: Interpress Publishers, 1969.
A thin but useful exploration of the Polish Navy.
Peszke, Michael Alfred. Poland's Navy, 1918-1945. New York: Hippocrene Books Inc, 1999.
A considerably more detailed look at the Polish Navy, with additional material on Polish naval aviation, the Polish Women's Naval Auxiliary, and the Polish Merchant Marine.
