Polska Piastów - Paweł Jasienica

The series of books begun with this volume wants to tell the history of Poland and the nations later federated with it in a literary way. According to the author, history gives itself meaning, creating values that deserve fidelity. In the Polish case, this sense consists not only in securing the material existence of the descendants of the Piast tribes. In the nineteenth century, those among them who considered themselves loyal subjects of foreign emperors did not do badly at all. A feudal-type economy would have developed in us in the Middle Ages and then, if the Germanic frontier margraves had succeeded in conquering the Vistula territory. After all, it developed quite well in Western Pomerania. What did not develop was the local, West Pomeranian variety of European culture.

From the point of view of this general interest, which does not pass away, the existence of the Polish state made sense, it paid off. Inside its borders it found a favorable soil for the offshoot of Latin culture, strong enough to survive the collapse of the kingdom itself in the 18th century. Its serious merit was precisely what many Poles are so ashamed of: its provincial character. The periphery, after all, marks the limits of reach.

Book in Polish language version.

Technical data
Author: Paweł Jasienica
Cover: hardback
Number of pages: 480
Format: 15 x 21 cm
Year of publication: 2022
Publisher: MG