Okonski, Walter. Wartime Poland, 1939-1945: A Select Annotated Bibliography of Books in English. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.

111 pages
ISBN 0-313-30004-6

Introduction; index.

To Greenwood's very valuable series of WWII bibliographies now is added Walter Okonski's survey of books about Poland during the war years.

A worthy addition it is, with useful, well-organized, and well-indexed material covering every aspect of the Polish wartime experience. The book opens with eleven pages of introductory material and closes with indexes by author, title, and subject. In between, the annotated bibliographic entries for some 350 titles are divided into nine topics:

1. Poland in the Twentieth Century
2. Pre-War Period, 1919-1939
3. War Origins and Outbreak
4. Military Aspects of the War
5. Political and Diplomatic Aspects of the War
6. Economic and Legal Aspects of the War
7. Social Impact of the War
8. Consequences of the War
9. Post-War Period

Each of these topics is subdivided into as many as six sections, some of which are themselves further subdivided. Certain books fall into -- and are repeated in -- multiple divisions.

Each title is fully described with author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, number of pages, and a paragraph discussing the book's content. For example:

Sword, Keith, ed. The Soviet Takeover of the Polish Eastern Provinces, 1939-41. New York: St Martin's Press, 1991. 318p., maps, bibl.

A collection of papers delivered at a conference held at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, in April 1989 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Soviet takeover of eastern Poland. The conference was convened in order to bring together scholars from both inside and outside Poland interested in the subject. The papers provided express the diverse interests and concerns of their authors.

While the average reader may not be amoured of this sort of book about books, it is absolutely indispensable for the serious researcher, collector, and bookseller.

Available through mail order booksellers, local bookstores, or directly from Greenwood Press for $65.

Thanks to Greenwood for providing this review copy.