Product Description

The dramatic and little-known story of how, in the summer of 1920, Lenin came within a hair's breadth of shattering the painstakingly constructed Versailles peace settlement and spreading Bolshevism to western Europe. In 1920 the new Soviet state was a mess, following a brutal civil war, and the best way of ensuring its survival appeared to be to export the revolution to Germany, itself economically ruined by defeat in World War I and racked by internal political dissension. Between Russia and Germany lay Poland, a nation that had only just recovered its independence after more than a century of foreign oppression. But it was economically and militarily weak and its misguided offensive to liberate the Ukraine in the spring of 1920 laid it open to attack. Egged on by Trotsky, Lenin launched a massive westward advance under the flamboyant Marshal Tukhachevsky. All that Great Britain and France had fought for over four years now seemed at risk. By the middle of August the Russians were only a few kilometres from Warsaw, and Berlin was less than a week's march away.Then occurred the 'Miracle of the Vistula': the Polish army led by Jozef Pilsudski regrouped and achieved one of the most decisive victories in military history. As a result, the Versailles peace settlement survived, and Lenin was forced to settle for Communism in one country. The battle for Warsaw bought Europe nearly two decades of peace, and communism remained a mainly Russian phenomenon, subsuming many of the autocratic and Byzantine characteristics of Russia's tsarist tradition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40414 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
Praise for 'Rites of Peace': 'Deeply researched, elegantly written, gleaming with the political and sexual depravity of the Congress that decided the fate of Europe, Zamoyski's "Rites of Peace" is outstanding -- a delicious, triumphant feast of a book.' Daily Mail 'Impressively detailed diplomatic history; it deals with the fate of nations and dynasties and the doings of emperors, kings and princes. The author keeps up a strong narrative drive, guiding the reader through the tortuously involved negotiations of the Congress.'The Economist 'Zamoyski's!account of the labyrinthine twists of diplomacy is both masterly and exhaustive!I closed the book full of admiration for its author.' Sunday Times

About the Author
Adam Zamoyski was born in New York, was educated at Oxford, and lives in London. A full-time writer, he has written biographies of 'Chopin' (Collins 1979), 'Paderewski', and 'The Last King of Poland','1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow', which was a Sunday Times bestseller and 'Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna'. He is married to the painter Emma Sergeant.

Customer Reviews

Short and to the point
Having recently reread Norman Davies' account of the Polish Soviet war I was pleased to see that this book had been released. It is not the book that Davies' is, and does not really offer anything new, and Zamoyski more or less concedes this point himself. He has set out to offer an accessible and readable account of this overlooked and important conflict, which still echoes through those countries today. This he has achieved. If the book feels unsatifyingly short, it is probably only to Eastern Europe bores such as myself. To people coming fresh to the subject and the region it a quick and informative read which i would recommend.

Zamoyski is to be commended for bringing his status, hard won from fuller tomes on more popular subjects, to bear on this fascinating 'brawl', its origins, myths,conduct and consequences.

A Superbly Concise Description of this Important Campaign
This is a superbly written little book that provides a concise history of the 1920 campaign that resulted in the defeat of Soviet forces by the newly formed Polish Army. Books describing military campaigns can often be tedious but Zamoyski overcomes this by writing with such elan that you find yourself rushing through the book. Thumbnail sketches are provided of the main protagonists including Pilsudski, Sikorski, and the Russians Tukhachevsky and Budionny as well as many other players including a young, and insubordinate political officer, Stalin. Other, more detailed tomes are available, (Norman Davies, 'White Eagle Red Star', 1972) but for the reader who is seeking a brief description of this most important of battles Zamoyski has done an excellent job. A number of good black and white photographs and campaign maps are provided in the text.

Please read more history books
I could not help but become incensed when I read Y. Mann's review of this book above. I suggest Mr. Y. Mann of NY that you go and read some more books on Eastern Europe and Poland from the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries, pre-world war I and WW2. You can start with God's Playground by Norman Davies and amongst others continue to For Your Freedom and Ours by Olson and Cloud. Quote "The idea here, apparently, is that it is OK for the Poles to take lands that belonged to them over a century ago before Poland was partitioned" well then according to you the very creation of a free Polish state was wrong. The Poles had offered the Whites help against the Bolsheviks in an agreement of a free Poland but the Whites refused to acknowledge that a Poland even existed, the same was true of the Bolsheviks, and it would be foolish to think that Communism would just sit by and allow a free state to exist right under their noses, such as 1939 and the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Quote " Bottom line is that the Red Army responded to a Polish threat. If there was no Polish threat there is no evidence one can point to which would undoubtedly show that the Red Army would have been used to spread the Revolution, especially considering the position Russia/Soviet Union found itself in after a bloody civil war.", the Red Army was well lead and organised for that period of time, just having beaten the Whites, what Poland did was pre-empt an attack that would no doubt be coming, the fact is a free Poland was always a threat to Communism I quote Stalin "Poland is about as suitable for communism as trying to put a saddle on a donkey". If you read Polish history Poland prides itself on being a country that never invaded and oppressed its neighbours, only a hardened Communist would believe that Bolshevism was liberation. The Polish invasion did not help the Bolshevik cause, Poland ensured freedom for the region for the next 20 years. Quote "their 'armies' at times were the furthest thing from what we picture in our minds as 'armies'" what did you depict any WW1 army to look like? WW1 western front was mainly fought by trench and artillery, on the eastern front a mixture heavily based on cavalry, the west and eastern fronts were just as motley as each other, I suggest more reading on this subject also. Only a communist can believe that Poland was the aggressor in this war, Poland has been fighting defensive conflicts in the interest of independence and "the Golden liberty" that was Poland from oppressors for centuries, again please read more about this subject...