Poland is a major European country with over 38 million inhabitants and a land area comparable to Spain. It has played an important role in European history but its subjugation by foreign powers in the nineteenth century and during the Cold War eclipsed Poland in the minds of many in western Europe and the USA. Throughout its long and diverse history, it has been a meeting place of many cultures and has given the world the poetry of Czeslaw Milosz, the music of Chopin, and the scientific discoveries of Copernicus and Marie Curie, to name but a few. Since 1989, Poland has gradually regained its place in Europe, joining NATO and in May 2004, the EU. It is playing a new role on the European and international stage and attracts over 47 million visitors every year. This "Traveller's History of Poland" is the ideal paperback guide to this complex and fascinating country.