Product Review (submitted on 25 May 2022):
The Polish Navy, like the nation that created it, has throughout its relatively short existence shown tremendous resolve, tenacity and an indomitable spirit. This slimline book packs in the punches as it firstly recounts the arduous creation of the Polish State and then how since the very late 19th Century European power politics have repeatedly and unashamedly swept over the country. One of the most notable being Russia who, just as currently in Ukraine, frequently and without provocation or justification, invaded for geopolitical purposes or for the seizure of land and resources.
Prezemyslaw Budzbon has, through extensive research, created a fascinating insight into the early days of the Polish Navy with an extremely keen attention to detail when describing tactics and weaponry. He charts the rise of Poland to effectively create a buffer zone between warring nations on either side. In fact, all the politicians truly created was a pawn that would be sacrificed on numerous occasions over the first forty-five years of the 20th Century.
Reading this book gave this reviewer that rare thing, the discovery of something I had never seen written about in any other book. The Battle of Chernobyl. Long before the city became known for the nuclear disaster it was the scene of a naval battle on 27 April 1920 when Polish under-armed river craft slugged it out with Bolshevik forces. Later in the 1930s came the existential threat to the survival of a nation from Nazi Germany. This book details how, with a limited budget, limited access to the Baltic Sea, but supreme determination and courage, the tiny Polish Navy created a legendary service history. One that also included the destroyer Piroum take on the pride of the Kriegsmarine, the battleship Bismarck in May 1941.
The book is full of black and white images and quite excellent artwork created by Paul Wright. All I can say is that I enjoyed reading the book, I was educated by the book, but I was left wanting to know more about the legendary Polish Navy.
