Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the

history of Europe The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early Euro ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He has a special interest in Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

and is

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Professor at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

, professor emeritus at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, a visiting professor at the Collège d'Europe, and an honorary fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford. He was granted Polish citizenship in 2014.

Academic career

Davies was born to Richard and Elizabeth Davies in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He is of Welsh descent. He studied in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, France, from 1957 to 1958 and then under A. J. P. Taylor at Magdalen College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where he earned a BA in history in 1962. He was awarded an MA at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

in 1966 and also studied in

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, Italy. Davies intended to study for a PhD in the Soviet Union but was denied an entry visa, so he went to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, Poland, instead. Davies studied at the

and did research on the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. As this war was denied in the official communist Polish historiography of that time, he was obliged to change the title of his dissertation to ''The British Foreign Policy towards Poland, 1919–20''. After he obtained his PhD in Kraków in 1968, the English text was published in 1972 under the title ''White Eagle, Red Star. The Polish–Soviet War 1919–20''. From 1971, Davies taught Polish history at the

School of Slavonic and East European Studies The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES ) is a University College London#Faculties and departments, school of University College London (UCL) specializing in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and South-Easte ...

, where he was professor from 1985 to 1996, when he retired. He subsequently became Supernumerary Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford, from 1997 to 2006. Throughout his career, Davies has lectured in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Poland and in most of the rest of Europe as well.

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

's history department denied Davies a tenured faculty position in 1986 (on an 11 against, 10 for and 1 abstaining, vote). The decision was described as "the closest, most acrimonious tenure decision of recent years". After failing to arrange a formal review hearing of the decision, Davies filed a lawsuit against History Professor Harold Kahn and 29 other Stanford professors. This case was dismissed when Davies was unable to depose Kahn. Davies subsequently sought to obtain $3 million in damages from the university, arguing he had been the victim of

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

on the grounds of his political views (with the claim being "

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

," "

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

" and "tortious interference" with a business). The court ruled that because of California's right of privacy "even if we assume that... a candidate may be denied tenure for improper" .g., defamatory"reasons, we are of the opinion that the right of a faculty member to discuss with his colleagues the candidate's qualifications thoroughly and candidly, in confidence and without fear of compelled disclosure, is of such paramount value that it ought not to be impaired." The court upheld the university's right to decide on faculty appointments on the basis of any criteria. Davies is a visiting professor at the Collège d'Europe.

Work

Davies' first book, '' White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War, 1919–20'' was published in 1972. His 1981 book '' God's Playground'', a comprehensive overview of Polish history, was published officially in Poland only after the fall of communism. In 1984, Davies published '' Heart of Europe'', a briefer, more essay-like history of Poland, in which the chapters are arranged in reverse chronological order. In the 1990s, Davies published '' Europe: A History'' (1996) and '' The Isles: A History'' (1999), about Europe and the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, respectively. Each book is a narrative interlarded with numerous sidepanel discussions of microtopics. In 2000, Davies' Polish publishers ''Znak'' published a collection of his essays and articles under the title ''Smok wawelski nad Tamizą'' ("The Wawel Dragon on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

"). In 2002, at the suggestion of the city's mayor, Bogdan Zdrojewski, Davies and his former research assistant,

Roger Moorhouse Roger Moorhouse (born 1968) is a British historian and author. Education He was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England, and attended Berkhamsted School and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the University of London, graduating ...

, co-wrote a history of

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

/ Breslau, a Silesian city. Titled '' Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City'', the book was published simultaneously in English, Polish and German, and was later translated into Czech, French and Italian. Davies also writes essays and articles for the mass media. Among others, he has worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as well as British and American magazines and newspapers, such as ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. In Poland, his articles appeared in the liberal Catholic weekly '' Tygodnik Powszechny''. Davies' book '' Rising '44. The Battle for Warsaw'' describes the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. It was followed by ''Europe at War 1939–1945: No Simple Victory'' (2006). In 2008 Davies participated in the documentary film '' The Soviet Story''.

Awards and distinctions

Davies holds a number of honorary titles and memberships, including honorary doctorates from the universities of the

(since 2003),

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(since 2007), memberships in the Polish Academy of Learning (PAU), the Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea, and the International Honorary Council of the European Academy of Diplomacy, and fellowships of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

and the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

. Davies received an honorary DLitt degree from his alma mater the University of Sussex. Davies is also an honorary citizen of Polish cities of

, and

, and a member of the committee for the Order of the Smile. Edward Bernard Raczyński, President of the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...

, decorated Davies with the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

. On 22 December 1998

President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served the maximum two terms as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. His tenure as President was marked by modernization of Poland, rapid economi ...

awarded him the Grand Cross (1st class) of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. Finally, on 11 November 2012, Davies was decorated with the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest civilian award. In 2001, Davies was made a companion of the

Order of Saint Michael and Saint George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

for service to Central European history. Davies has been appointed to the advisory board of the European Association of History Educators—EUROCLIO. In 2008, he was awarded the Order of the Cross of St Mary's Land 3rd Class by the Republic of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Davies also received Knight of Freedom Award in 2006 for his promotion of Polish history and the values represented by General

Casimir Pulaski Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski (; March 4 or 6, 1745 October 11, 1779), anglicised as Casimir Pulaski ( ), was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called "The Father of American cavalry" or "The So ...

. In 2012, he received the

Aleksander Gieysztor Aleksander Gieysztor (17 July 1916 – 9 February 1999) was a Polish medievalist historian. Life Aleksander Gieysztor was born to a Polish family in Moscow, Russia, where his father worked as a railwayman. In 1921, the family relocated to Poland ...

Prize for his promotion of Polish cultural heritage abroad. In 2019 he was accepted by Swedish Academy to the list of literature Nobel Prize candidates. The information was announced during author's meeting in Gniezno, Poland.

Political views

Davies disagrees with the historical policy of the Law and Justice party. He stated in 2017 that "PiS wants to politicize history to a degree unseen in the last 25 years". Davies himself argues that "Holocaust scholars need have no fears that rational comparisons might threaten that uniqueness. Quite the opposite." and that "one needs to re-construct mentally the fuller picture in order to comprehend the true enormity of Poland's wartime cataclysm, and then to say with absolute conviction 'Never Again'."

Personal life

Davies married Maria Korzeniewicz, a Polish scholar born in

Dąbrowa Tarnowska Dąbrowa Tarnowska () is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Tarnów. It is the capital of Dąbrowa County. Before reorganization (in 1999) Dąbrowa Tarnowska was part of Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998). As of Decem ...

. He lives in Oxford and Kraków, and has two sons. His uncle Donny died in the Munich air disaster. Davies was initially a member of the Congregational Church in Bolton, but converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. His mother was a devout Christian and a nonconformist Protestant. In an interview for

Aleteia ''Aleteia'' is an online Catholic Church, Catholic news and information website founded in 2011/2012 by Jesús Colina via the Foundation for Evangelization through the Media. It has the approval of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications a ...

in 2018, Davies stated that he converted to Roman Catholicism in Poland and believed in divine providence based on the doctrine of providence of St Augustine. He also expressed his respect for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and once attended the Ukrainian Orthodox

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

. Polish journalist Jan Wróbel called Davies a "liberal Catholic and open-minded patriot".

Books

*1972: '' White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish–Soviet War, 1919–20''. (2004 edition: ) *1977: ''Poland, Past and Present: A Select Bibliography of Works in English''. * 1981: '' God's Playground: A History of Poland.'' Vol. 1: ''The Origins to 1795'', Vol. 2: ''1795 to the Present''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. / *1984: '' Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. **2001: ''Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present''. Oxford University Press, USA; new edition *1991: ''Jews in Eastern Poland and the USSR, 1939–46''. Palgrave Macmillan. * 1996: '' Europe: A History''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. *1997: ''Auschwitz and the Second World War in Poland: A lecture given at the Representations of Auschwitz international conference at the Jagiellonian University''. Universitas. *1999: ''Red Winds from the North''. Able Publishing. *1999: '' The Isles: A History''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. *2002 (with

): '' Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City'' London: Jonathan Cape. *2004: '' Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw''. London: Pan Books. *2006: ''Europe East and West: A Collection of Essays on European History''. Jonathan Cape. *2006: '' Europe at War 1939–1945: No Simple Victory''. Macmillan. *2008: ''To and From. Modern Poland: A Journey Through Postal History''. Rosikon Press. *2011: '' Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe''. Allen Lane. *2015: '' Trail of Hope: The Anders Army, An Odyssey across Three Continents''. Osprey Publishing. *2017: ''Beneath Another Sky: A Global Journey into History''. Allen Lane

References

External links

"Review of Europe at War"

* ttp://www.davies.pl/ A Polish site about Norman Davies (in Polish), includes a gallery and parts of translated text
Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's Heritage

BBC Interview with audio and transcript

at ''

'', published 28 August 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Norman 1939 births Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people Historians of Europe Historians of Poland English historians Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford Academics of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Naturalized citizens of Poland People from Bolton Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Jagiellonian University alumni Alumni of the University of Sussex Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd Class Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta People educated at Bolton School English people of Welsh descent Historians of the University of Oxford Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Converts to Roman Catholicism from Congregationalism