This volume presents over 140 primary source documents of Polish immigrants from different waves and backgrounds speaking about their lives, concerns, and viewpoints in their own voices, while they grapple with issues of identity and strive to make sense of their lives in the context of migration. Poles have come to America since the Jamestown settlement in 1608 and constituted one of the largest immigrant groups at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. As of 2020, the Census Bureau lists them as the sixth largest ethnic group in the country. The history of their experience is an integral part of the American story as well as that of the broader Polish diaspora. Each of the ten comprehensive chapters presents a specific theme illuminated by a selection of letters, press articles, fragments of memoirs and autobiographical fiction, interviews, organizational papers, and other publications, as well as visual sources such as cartoons, posters, and photographs. Brief introductions to the documents and a "Further Reading" section offer historical context and point readers to additional resources. The book provides students and scholars with a broad understanding and incentive for future study of the Polish experience in the United States.

A full understanding of the historical process must include studies of the social and economic conditions of societies as well as biographies of the people on which a clear understanding of history is based-but not just the "great" people. Biographies of "average" individuals, who exist in a society, have their own experiences and are acted upon by their surrounding environments, are essential to a clear and complete understanding of the past and its influence on the present. In this respect, Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm has made a major contribution to furthering the understanding of World War II, and especially the part played by Poland and Poles, with her compilation of individual biographies of people who participated in many of its formative events. Ziolkowska-Boehm's protagonists include a variety of people and experiences that enhance the usefulness of the volume. There are: Tadeusz Brzezinski, a member of the Polish diplomatic corps; the hero who escaped the Lwow ghetto to fight in the Warsaw Uprising and later founded a theatre group in Montreal; a pilot who escaped from the Soviet Union to fly fighters over Great Britain; a photographer of the Warsaw Uprising; a nurse during the Warsaw Uprising; a personal memories of the post-war era move to the United States; a person who was forcefully deported with her family to the Soviet Urals, later escaping to the Middle East and eventually Mexico; the boy who, though only eight when the war began, but survived Pawiak Prison, moved to Brazil, and became an internationally-known poet and artist.

The period of Sectionalism, Civil War and Reconstruction was the most traumatic in American history. The outcome changed the foundations of the nation, with effects still felt today. While most Civil War histories focus on specific topics-military history, economics, politics-this book presents the narrative as it unfolded against a broader historical background. Drawing on direct quotations from actual participants, the author provides an interpretive overview of the issues and events that divided and then devastated the United States.

"The Origins of Modern Polish Democracy" is a series of closely integrated essays that traces the idea of democracy in Polish thought and practice. It begins with the transformative events of the mid-nineteenth century, which witnessed revolutionary developments in the socioeconomic and demographic structure of Poland, and continues through changes that marked the postcommunist era of free Poland.
The idea of democracy survived in Poland through long periods of foreign occupation, the trials of two world wars, and years of Communist subjugation. Whether in Poland itself or among exiles, Polish speculation about the creation of a liberal-democratic Poland has been central to modern Polish political thought. This volume is unique in that it traces the evolution of the idea of democracy, both during the periods when Poland was an independent country--1918-1939 and after 1989--and during the periods of foreign occupation before 1918 and through World War II and the Communist era. For those periods when Poland was not free, the volume discusses how the idea of democracy evolved among exile and underground Polish circles. This important work is the only single-volume English-language history of modern Polish democratic thought and parliamentary systems and represents the latest scholarly research by leading specialists from Europe and North America.

"The Origins of Modern Polish Democracy" is a series of closely integrated essays that traces the idea of democracy in Polish thought and practice. It begins with the transformative events of the mid-nineteenth century, which witnessed revolutionary developments in the socioeconomic and demographic structure of Poland, and continues through changes that marked the postcommunist era of free Poland.
The idea of democracy survived in Poland through long periods of foreign occupation, the trials of two world wars, and years of Communist subjugation. Whether in Poland itself or among exiles, Polish speculation about the creation of a liberal-democratic Poland has been central to modern Polish political thought. This volume is unique in that it traces the evolution of the idea of democracy, both during the periods when Poland was an independent country--1918-1939 and after 1989--and during the periods of foreign occupation before 1918 and through World War II and the Communist era. For those periods when Poland was not free, the volume discusses how the idea of democracy evolved among exile and underground Polish circles. This important work is the only single-volume English-language history of modern Polish democratic thought and parliamentary systems and represents the latest scholarly research by leading specialists from Europe and North America.