Poland flag Historical fiction books from Poland

Recommended historical fiction books (17)
Travel the world without leaving your chair. If you are into historical fiction here are some historical fiction books from Poland for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.

11.

The Doll by Boleslaw Prus EN

Rating: 4.5 (4 votes)
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
Boleslaw Prus is often compared to Chekhov, and Prus’s masterpiece might be described as an intimate epic, a beautifully detailed, utterly absorbing exploration of life in late-nineteenth-century Warsaw, which is also a prophetic reckoning with some of the social forces—imperialism, nationalism, anti-Semitism among them—that would soon convulse Europe as never before. But The Doll is above all a brilliant novel of character, dramatizing conflicting ideas through the various convictions, ambitions, confusions, and frustrations of an extensive and varied cast. At the center of the book are three... continue

12.

The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
Yasha the magician - sword swallower, fire eater, acrobat and master of escape - is famed for his extraordinary Houdini-like skills. Half Jewish, half Gentile, a free thinker who slips easily between worlds, Yasha has an observant wife, a loyal assistant who travels with him and a woman in every town. Now, though, his exploits are catching up with him, and he is tempted to make one final escape - from his marriage, his homeland and the last tendrils of his father's religion. Set in Warsaw and the shtetls of the 1870s, Isaac Bashevis Singer's second novel is a haunting psychological portrait of... continue

13.

The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
A young boy, abandoned by his parents during World War II, wanders alone from one village to another in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.

14.

The Tin Drum by Günter Grass EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
ONE OF TWELVE TITLES IN VINTAGE'S A FORMAT WAR PROMOTION The publication of The Tin Drum in 1959 launched Gunther Grass as an author of international repute. Bitter and impassioned, it delivers a scathing dissection of the years from 1925 to 1955 through the eyes of Oskar Matzerath, the dwarf whose manic beating on the toy of his retarded childhood fantastically counterpoints the accumulating horrors of Germany and Poland under the Nazis.

15.

The Widow Queen by Elzbieta Cherezinska EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
Elzbieta Cherezinska'sThe Widow Queen is the epic story of a Polish queen whose life and name were all but forgotten until now. It's a sweeping saga perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory, Bernard Cornwell, and the Vikings tv series. The bold one, they call her—too bold for most. To her father, the great duke of Poland, Swietoslawa and her two sisters represent three chances for an alliance. Three marriages on which to build his empire. But Swietoslawa refuses to be simply a pawn in her father's schemes; she seeks a throne of her own, with no husband by her side. The gods may grant her wish, but... continue

16.

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY The Wall Street Journal AND The Washington Post From award-winning author Eva Stachniak comes this passionate novel that illuminates, as only fiction can, the early life of one of history’s boldest women. The Winter Palace tells the epic story of Catherine the Great’s improbable rise to power—as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne. Her name is Barbara—in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminen... continue

17.

With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
Set in the 17th century in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Khmelnytsky Uprising.