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Heart of Europe

1984 book by Norman Davies

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ115484786 ↗
Source-derived summary

Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland is a book about history of Poland, written by the English historian Norman Davies. It was published by Oxford University Press in 1984. Second edition with a changed subtitle, Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present, was published in 2001. The book was translated to Polish as Serce Europy. Krótka historia Polski in 1995.

It contains a series of essays by Davies about Polish history. New York Times in 1984 called it "another masterpiece", following his earlier work on Poland.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Heart of Europe” as 1984 book by Norman Davies. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Heart, Europe and book.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1984, 2001, 1995—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1984. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Heart, Europe and book providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Heart of Europe”, the useful work is to connect “1984 book by Norman Davies” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q115484786. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1984, 2001 and 1995.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Heart of Europe”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Heart of Europe primary sources, Heart of Europe archive and Heart research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Heart of Europe”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Heart of Europe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.